The design team at Ford Motors shows how a car is built from concept to reality. The ending shows the 1955 Lincoln Futura in wind tunnel, freeze chamber, and on road testing.
Actually the original bat mobile. Was built by some else in New Jersey. And Barris stole the car and the idea my Uncle Jack worked for him from ‘64-‘74. And he told me so. But the org had 3 fins in back. And it was based on a T Bird / Chrysler. Car
Not sure why he even needed to do that. Originally, the system was operated automatically. Pull the door handle to release the door and the top automatically went up. I suppose they could have bypassed or replaced that system by the time this film was made.
Great video on 1950's classic car design. I wish today's computer designed and robot assembled cars would be good and durable as the American classic cars.
The 1960s were a great time period, The announcers voice is almost like every classroom film I watched as a kid ( on the reel projectors) in grade school. His voice is so reassuring and authoritative, Shame men don't sound like this anymore.
Its overwhelming obvious that creators of 1966 Batman tv series viewed this feature in creating their show from rocket generators sounds.too mr freeze inducing torture..Futuristic Ford Lincoln Division predicts FUTURE AMERICAN TV SHOW 66 BATMAN...THANK YOU. POSTING
Oh the awful thought of all those wonderful design renderings and sketches simply burned up...all those wonderful drawings destroyed,a huge loss to automotive history!
The futura was custom built for Ford by the Italian coach builder Ghia...the created those shapes by hand! Over wooden forms then shipped the whole thing over from Italy...
I saw it parked beside the driveway of Barris' shop next to a gutter at the street during the summer of 1962. It had been painted day glow red with the interior painted (without question) black from a "rattle can". Later learned the mint green paint created a hassle when filming the first movie it was in as it effected the light as seen by the film (Black & white). Someday someone will sit down and identify all the "Batmobiles" and repops of the original Ford built car..
I think the car's engine would've needed to displace another 200 cubic inches just to run an air conditioner powerful enough to keep the driver alive inside that canopy during direct sunlight!
I wonder how much the old guy got paid to stand there staring at the flames... What happens to or happened to all the clay used on the mock ups? did they re use it or junk it?
Industrial espionage was a genuine problem. Those drawings would bring good coin if stolen and sold to a competitor. The trash from the office was also regularly searched by competitors in the quest to gain a competitive edge.
Fords Lincoln division created MASTERPIECE 55 futura experimental..this car llives forever ..At beginning of feature employee enters secret development workshop & security guard closes door in front of camera operator!!!! FORDS LINCOLN DIVISION DOES NOT WANT CHEVROLETS CADILLAC DIVISION..OR RUSSIANS STICKING THEIR SPYING EYES ON THEIR ETERNAL MYSTERIOUS MASTERPIECE !!!!!!..ps This feature predicts future of this cars blackbird rocket induced prefformability...Holly cow Bat man!!! Thank you for POSTING..APPRECIATED
@@That_AMC_Guy That was another factory. There were 3 or 4 in Pa. I worked at UPS Automotive for 25 1/2 years and they used Budd Wheels. I know in the 60s he made dies for the Javelin and AMX bodies and fenders
This is interesting to see. I was under the impression the Futura was painted red for the 1959 movie "It Started with a Kiss". However here, it's already red for testing? That makes me wonder if FORD actually repainted the car to keep it fresh on the show circuit. Strange that the interior has also been redone in red and black as opposed to the white and black it originally was. This all leads me to believe the car was already red before being in the 1959 movie.
Ditto... I am sure that the car was repainted for the movie from a pastel green to red. George Barris told me himself and I saw many pictures before and after. Seeing it red at the test factory was odd to say the least.
Yes it's even look like mid 60s way ahead of it's time, strangely the big fins that appear in the late fifties lasted 3or four years, then they went back to about more conservative form the best example is my favorite ford, the galaxie 500 (à cause de ça forme épuré ) is in the same idea as the astrion, and by the way look even more like a Newport ! I had a 68 Newport with a383 it was supercool ! :)
Le davan demasiado corazon a los diseños i proyectos con el tienpo dejaron de ser tan perfeccionistas i sinplificaron mas las técnicas haora solo necesitan una conputadora nisiquiera cartulinas i papel gastan jeje se acabo ka calida humana
That ornament on the trunk of the Futura looks like a gun sight. Perhaps they envisioned a day when people shot at each other on freeways. And look at the size of that steering wheel, like something you'd find on a bus. Any design worthy of the name Futura ought to have power steering.
That "ornament" is actually a microphone. The Futura's plexiglass windshields and dome were so thick, they were virtually soundproof once the doors were closed and the top locked down. The only way to hear what was going on outside was with that microphone.
For fun, here is a link to a large print of the Lincoln Futura. This came from a digitally restored original promo photo, sent out to newspapers back when the Futura was a fixture at all the car shows. Enjoy! www.etsy.com/listing/121075633/vintage-car-print-the-original-batmobile
While most corporate car senior management have their heads firmly up their asses, the visionary they hired by mistake is banging on their locked doors, desperate to show them the possibilities. But to no avail. We all pay the price.
Wasn't it a pale green color before it was red? Saw many pictures of it and it was green and George Barris repainted it for the movie "it started with a kiss" and the studio sent it back to Barris who eventually bought it for a dollar. Then converted it into the Batmobile and created a LEGEND.
"Pearlescent, frost-blue white was the brand new color painted on the Futura, in Schmidt's attempts to capture the iridescence of the fish he had viewed in the Caribbean. This brilliant color was created by Ghia who ground and pulverized the scales of thousands of fish to mix into the paint color."
