car design thread

Pt.2 of the Futura/Batmobile story
The Lincoln Futura, Part 2: The Batmobile
December 8, 20212 CommentsFord, Jim Farrell
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Lincoln Futura becomes The Batmobile (Part II of III)
By Jim and Cheryl Farrell

Ghia returned the completed Futura to Lincoln-Mercury Division on January 5, 1955. By the middle of that month it was on display at the Chicago Auto Show; then it was off to the Detroit and New York Auto Shows. When in New York for the auto show there, the Futura was driven by Benson Ford on city streets where it all but stopped traffic. Everywhere the Futura went it drew huge crowds. After the show circuit, The Futura was shown at fairs, races and in some Lincoln dealers’s showrooms. By 1959, there were newer concept cars that took it’s place on the show circuit. When not on display somewhere, the Futura could usually be seen at the Ford Rotunda.

By 1959, George Barris was doing some customizing work for Ford. He arranged for the Futura to appear in the movie “It Started With A Kiss,” staring Glenn Ford and Debbie Reynolds. During its film test the studio determined the Futura’s pearlescent paint didn’t film well, so Barris repainted it red. After the movie, the Futura was returned to Dearborn where it appeared in a 1963 Ford film about the Design Center. After that, Lincoln-Mercury Division returned the Futura to California, where it was parked at either MGM or outside at Barris’ shop while Barris was trying to find other TV or movie roles for it. While at Barris’ shop, parts were taken or lost, the red paint faded and the Futura generally deteriorated.

Back In Dearborn, George Walker retired as head of the Ford Styling Center in May 1961. At the time, Henry Ford II was in bed with mononucleosis, so Bill Ford was able to engineer Gene Bordinat’s surprise appointment as a Ford vice president and head of the Styling Center to replace Walker. Bordinat thought the 10% of the Design Center’s budget assigned to discretionary projects could be better spent not on expensive concept cars but on cheaper to build customized production cars. Bordinat also thought Detroit area metal shops charged too much, so he asked Dave Ash, a Ford designer he had worked with since their time at GM in the 1940s, to interview California customizers to find out what they charged and who would most likely follow precise directions and schedules when customizing Fords, Lincolns and Mercurys into show cars. Ash, cost analyst Jim Cappolongo, and L-M representative Harry Miller, all flew to California to interview customizers. After interviews, Barris in Hollywood and Gene Winfield in Modesto were chosen to each build a show car from a production Ford product based on detailed designs prepared by the Ford Design Center and on a specific time schedule they were given. Winfield built a car called the Constellation, and Barris built the Mercury Super Marauder.

During the time the cars were being built, Ash would fly out to California every two weeks to supervise the builds. Sometimes Ash would stay and do work on either or both cars to help keep them on schedule. Ash enjoyed Hollywood more than Modesto. Barris introduced Ash to various Hollywood personalities, took him to Hollywood parties, and generally entertained and showed him the town, all of which Ash thoroughly enjoyed. Needless to say, Barris was chosen to build multiple show cars for Ford. While Barris was building show cars for Ford, he was also encouraging Ford to give/sell him the Futura so he could be more effective in getting it into movies or on TV. By letter agreement in December 1965, and countersigned in May 1966, Ford Division sold the Futura to Barris for $1 “and other consideration.” Because of the constant contact between Barris, Bordinat, Ash and other Ford personnel, it is probable that Ford was aware of Barris’ plan and his negotiations with studios to turn the Futura into the Batmobile. According to Ash, the alternative was to destroy the Futura.

In September 1965 (before the sale), Barris signed a 13-page written contract with Twentieth Century Fox Television and Greenway Productions to turn the Futura into the Batmobile. The studios paid Barris $5,000 to make the modifications needed. Barris then subcontracted the metal work to Bill Cushenbury, who had a shop just down the street, and gave him oral directions on the work to be done. Cushenbury said extending the fins forward into the doors was the hardest part of the build. When the metal work was completed, Barris painted the car black. Barris then rented the Batmobile to the studios for $150 per episode during the Batman TV series. There were 120 episodes of the Batman TV series shown between January 1966 and May 1968. Barris also collected other monies from the studios during the series, including money for building a backup Batmobile, but he wisely kept the design rights and the right to publicly display the Batmobile.

In March 1966, Barris applied for a patent on the Batmoble, which was granted in October 1966. It’s anybody’s guess how much Barris made when displaying the Batmobile or one of the five replicas he made, but over the years the Batmobile was a cash cow. In 1973, Barris included the Batmobile in an auction he held for many of his movie cars, but the Batmobile did not meet the reserve of $5,000 and went unsold. In 2013, Barris did sell the Batmobile at auction for $4.6 million. Holy bat fuzz!

Part III is a 1995 interview with George Barris about the Batmobile.

Don’t miss the last photo after the gallery.

To The Bat Cave!
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GM’s Batmobile proposal mocked up by Paul Deesen on Chuck Jordan’s personal 1967 Corvette Coupe.

 

Possibly.

 

Italian Concept Cars Part 1: The Wedge Era 1968 – 1989

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Double Apex has several friends locally and abroad. One of our international correspondents has a keen eye for design and penned this piece on Italian concept cars part 1. Look out for part 2 later this week.

What do doorstops, changes in air pressure and green ground beetles have to do with concept cars? Everything it seems, provided you’re about to explore Italian concept cars of the so-called ‘wedge era’.

Racecar-inspired

In the late 1960s, the search for aerodynamic efficiency in racecar design had gained a new dimension – downforce. To better balance the effect of a huge, high-mounted wing at the rear, racecar noses were lowered and flattened – enter the wedge.

Never slow to spot a new trend, the Italian carrozzeria, led by Bertone, ItalDesign and Pininfarina, adopted the idea wholesale, swapping the voluptuous curves of the past for an edgy, wedgy design language that would last into the late 1980s.

Click here to read about the upcoming Pininfarina hypercar.

Starting with the Alfa Romeo Carabo in 1968, the Italians created a series of inspirational concepts that would influence an entire generation of sportscars. Without these radical flights of fancy, production icons such as the Lamborghini Countach, Lancia Stratos, BMW M1 and Lotus Esprit would never exist.

Alfa Romeo Carabo by Bertone (1968)

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Named – and painted – after the green Carabidae ground beetle, Marcello Gandini’s brilliant Carabo set the wedge car template. Wrapped around a 33 Stradale chassis, its innovative scissor doors, discreetly hidden head- and tail-lamp units and most importantly its radical lines sparked a revolution in car design.

Double Apex verdict: The king of wedge.

Maserati Boomerang by Italdesign (1972)

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Giorgetto Giugiaro’s ruler-only masterpiece sought to push wedge design to its extreme. That he was able to keep the final shape so taut, the proportions so balanced and the aesthetics so desirable is testament to his genius. Conventional doors, a Citroen-at-its-craziest interior, and a 4,7-litre V8 and underpinnings from the Bora made it a fully-functional daily-driver as well.

Double Apex verdict: So brilliant we almost hope wedge design comes back.

Ferrari 512S Modulo by Pininfarini (1970)

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Pininfarina’s first foray into wedge design came a year earlier with the 512S Berlinetta Speciale but it was the Paulo Martin-designed Modulo that delivered the more enduring shock factor. The Modulo is outrageously proportioned – five times longer than it is high – with partially covered wheels, a forward sliding canopy and a space-age interior complete with hubless steering wheel and bowling ball-shaped control panels.

Double Apex verdict: Almost 50 years later it still looks like the future.

Lancia Stratos Zero by Bertone (1970)

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Bertone’s epic response to the Modulo raised the bar by lowering the roofline. An astonishing marriage of architecture, sculpture and disciplined automotive engineering, the Zero measures a mere 84 cm in height aided in part by the mid-mounted 1,6-litre V4 engine. Access to the dashboard-free cabin is a step-in-from-the-front affair via a flip-up windscreen. Inside, it’s all ‘chocolate block’ recliners, forward tilting steering wheel, hand-etched green Perspex instrument panel and an acre of glass roof-cum-windscreen.
Double Apex verdict: The concept that sent Gandini stratospheric

By Banzai|Jan 1st, 2019|Categories: Gallery|Tags: concept, concept cars, design, italian concept cars, wedge design

 

Italian Concept Cars Part 2: The Wedge Era 1968 – 1989

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3. 3
4. 4

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Double Apex has several friends locally and abroad. One of our international correspondents has a keen eye for design and penned this piece on Italian concept cars part 2. Click here to see part 1.

What do doorstops, changes in air pressure and green ground beetles have to do with concept cars? Everything it seems, provided you’re about to explore Italian concept cars of the so-called ‘wedge era’.

Racecar-inspired

In the late 1960s, the search for aerodynamic efficiency in racecar design had gained a new dimension – downforce. To better balance the effect of a huge, high-mounted wing at the rear, racecar noses were lowered and flattened – enter the wedge.

Never slow to spot a new trend, the Italian carrozzeria, led by Bertone, ItalDesign and Pininfarina, adopted the idea wholesale, swapping the voluptuous curves of the past for an edgy, wedgy design language that would last into the late 1980s.

The Italians created a series of inspirational concepts that would influence an entire generation of sportscars. Without these radical flights of fancy, production icons such as the Lamborghini Countach, Lancia Stratos, BMW M1 and Lotus Esprit would never exist.

Alfa Romeo Navajo by Bertone (1976)

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Shaped like a Battlestar Galactica movie prop complete with war paint, active aerodynamics, side-mounted pop-out headlights and a ‘floating’ centre console, the Navajo was as science fiction as they come. Its sweet, mid-mounted 2,0-litre V8 engine and 33 Stradale chassis was pure old-school Alfa though.

Double Apex verdict: Less Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate, more Neil Arm-ani from Nasa.



Lamborghini Athon by Bertone (1980)

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The great Gandini had left Bertone; much was expected of new design head Marc Deschamps. While his first creation, the Athon, failed to garner much acclaim it is not without merit. A sharp and sleek front half blends into an asymmetrically detailed engine cover and flanks that would be reasonably called slab-sided were it not for the measured addition of protruding hockey stick side sills and deeply cut air intakes.

Double Apex verdict: Not Bertone’s finest hour.

Italdesign Aspid (1988)

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Along with the Pininfarina-penned Mythos of 1989, the Aspid and its twin canopy, split-cabin Aztec sibling signalled the end of the wedge era. Remnants such as a single-plane bonnet and windscreen remained but the bodywork surfacing was softer, the edges more rounded. Space-age graphic elements along the flanks, aero-enhancing rear wheel fairings and a jet fighter-style glass canopy added the requisite futuristic visual appeal to the exterior. An Audi-sourced 2,2-litre mid-mounted five-pot motor fed its power through a Lancia Delta HF’s 4WD system. Inside, a symmetrical design concept gifted the passenger a dummy steering wheel that housed minor controls.

Double Apex verdict: Giugiaro unleashed.



Ferrari Mythos by Pininfarina (1989)

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Arresting and imposing certainly, but few would call 1984’s Testarossa classically beautiful. With the Mythos, Pininfarina sought to clothe the Redhead’s fearsome mechanical parts in a stunning speedster aesthetic. Dramatically tapered, buttery smooth sculpted bodywork employed moveable aero bits, huge side intakes and a speedster-style screen fairing to glorious effect. Its roofless design revealed a pared backinterior inspired by the purity of the racing barchettas of the 1960s.

Double Apex verdict: A bizarrely underappreciated masterpiece.



By Banzai|Jan 3rd, 2019|Categories: Gallery|Tags: concept, concept cars, design, italian concept cars, wedge cars, wedge design

 

My thoughts as well.

 

MB G Wagon
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/g15896598/mercedes-g-wagen-history/?fbclid=IwAR3I38hTtScElipBUzhGM9tQ4l2sUCZSkdklUDJVpJWiUPlb4b9DdJerajQ

 

Generally, it's just one of a myriad number of items on the 'criteria' list. Working closely with engineering but usually windshield shape/design aren't as extreme as the Cybertruck for mass mfg.