Lincoln Futura

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The Lincoln Futura is a

Displayed on the auto show circuit in 1955, the Futura was modified by George Barris into the Batmobile, for the 1966 TV series Batman.

History

The idea for the Futura came from designer Bill Schmidt, who got the idea while he was diving, after an encounter with a shark.

The car's official public debut was on January 8, 1955, at the

The Futura was a success as a show car, garnering favorable publicity for Ford. It was released as a model kit and a toy, and, in a much more subdued form, its headlight and tailfin motifs would appear on production Lincolns for 1956 and 1957, such as the Lincoln Premiere and Lincoln Capri. The concave front grille inspired the grille on the 1960 Mercury Monterey and the 1960 Ford Galaxie.^{[citation needed]}

The styling showed a progression from the Mercury XM-800 introduced in 1954.

Media appearances

The Futura played a prominent part in the 1959 movie It Started with a Kiss, starring Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford. For the movie, it was painted red, as the white pearlescent finish did not photograph well.^[8]

The red-painted car is also seen in Ford's 1961 promotional film The Secret Door. The film's look inside Ford's Styling Center includes footage of the Futura on the test track and in the wind tunnel.^[9]

The concept car was subsequently sold to auto customizer George Barris. Having originally cost $250,000, the Futura was sold to Barris for $1 and "other valuable consideration" by Ford Motor Company. As the car was never titled and was therefore uninsurable, it was parked behind Barris' shop, sitting idle and deteriorating for several years.^{[citation needed]}

The Lincoln Futura was also included in the Vegas Pack DLC of Mafia II as the "Jefferson Futura".

The 1994 NBC TV series Viper featured a red replica of the 1955 Lincoln Futura called "The Baxley." In the episode "Wheels of Fire" (S01E08), the car's creator stole it after it was recovered by construction workers. There was quite a bit of film featuring the vehicle, even a chase between the Viper Defender and the Futura. There is a YouTube video available of the chase.

Batmobile

In 1966, Barris was asked to design a theme car for the

to modify the car's metalwork.

Barris went on to build three fiberglass replicas using the frames and running gear from 1966 Ford Galaxie cars for the show circuit. Barris later acquired a fourth replica, a metal car built on a 1958 Ford Thunderbird.^{[citation needed]}

Barris retained ownership of the car after its conversion to the Batmobile, leasing it to the TV studio for filming. After production of the TV series ended, it was displayed in Barris' own museum in California. It has also been displayed in the Cayman Motor Museum on Grand Cayman Island.^{[citation needed]}

Barris sold the Batmobile to Rick Champagne at the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction on Saturday, January 19, 2013, in Scottsdale, Arizona for US$4.62 million.^[12][13][14]

As of August 2016, Dave Anderson in Fairfax, Virginia owns the #1 made from the Futura Concept Car and he also owns the #2 car (the first replica that Barris built).

Replica

In the 1990s, Bob Butts (with George Barris' consent) made replicas of the Batmobile, using a mold of one of the Barris-built replicas. Based on pictures from when the Futura was shown in the 1950s, he reskinned an existing Batmobile replica back into a Lincoln Futura replica. He only created one copy.^{[citation needed]}

The original fiberglass copy shell of the Futura made by Bob Butts was later found by Gotham Garage owner Mark Towle and his friend and actor Shawn Pilot and rebuilt as an original copy of the Lincoln Futura together with his team (Constance Nunes, Tony Quinones, Michael "Caveman" Pyle) in their shop in Temecula, California, as seen in the Netflix series Car Masters: Rust to Riches.

When finished, the replica Futura was eventually sold at the Grand National Roadster Show at the Pomona Fairplex for approximately $90,000.

References

1. ^ "Specifications - The Futura". The Classic 1966 TV Batmobile. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
2. ^ Bakken, Douglas A. "Automotive Design Oral History Project: Remembering John Najjar". University of Michigan. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
3. ^ Prototypes, Detroit (n.d.). "Detroit's Prototype and Concept Vehicles: 1955 Futura". Bryant & Stratton College. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
4. ^ “Two Lincoln-Mercury Firsts at the Chicago Auto Show: World Premiere of the Lincoln Futura” (display ad). January 9, 1955.
5. ^ “Experimental Car Will Be Seen at Show” Chicago Tribune, January 6, 1955.
6. ^ “Radio-TV.” Buffalo Courier-Express, March 3, 1955.
7. ^ "Lincoln Shows Its Idea Automobile." Popular Mechanics, March 1955, p. 95.
8. ^ 1955 Lincoln Futura in It Started with a Kiss, Movie, 1959 at the Internet Movie Car Database
9. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "FORD MOTOR COMPANY STYLING CENTER 1961 PROMOTIONAL FILM "THE SECRET DOOR" 88464". YouTube.
10. ISBN 0-7603-0198-0
11. ^ St. Antoine, Arthur. - "Interview: Dean Jeffries, Hollywood legend". - Motor Trend Magazine
12. ^ "Sold! Barrett-Jackson's 5000 Series Generates More Than $29.2 Million In Scottsdale". January 20, 2013.
13. ^ Couch, Aaron. "JAN 19 21 MINS First Batmobile Fetches $4.6 Million at Auction". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
14. ^ "Original Batmobile from TV series sells for $4.2M". USA Today. January 20, 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lincoln Futura.

• Designing the Futura
• A very comprehensive Futura page
• Futura/Batmobile toys
• George Barris interview
• Volo Auto Museum Hollywood collection page
• Before Batman the history of the Lincoln Futura