The Lincoln Futura is a concept car promoted by Ford's Lincoln brand, designed by Ford's lead

stylist Stylist can refer to: Occupations * Automotive stylist or car stylist, a person involved in designing the appearance and ergonomics of automobiles * Food stylist, a person who makes food look attractive in photographs * Hair stylist, a person w ...

s Bill Schmidt and John Najjar, and hand-built by Ghia in Turin, Italy — at a cost of $250,000 (equivalent to $ in ). Displayed on the

auto show An auto show, also known as a motor show or car show, is a public exhibition of current automobile models, debuts, concept cars, or out-of-production classics. It is attended by automotive industry representatives, dealers, auto journalists a ...

circuit in 1955, the Futura was modified by George Barris into the Batmobile, for the 1966 TV series ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

''.

History

The car's official public debut was on January 8, 1955 at the Chicago Auto Show; it had been shown to the press at the city's Congress Hotel on January 5. While being displayed elsewhere in the U.S. that spring, the Futura was seen by the country's television audience on Today ("The Today Show") on March 3, 1955. The Futura's styling was original by 1950s standards — with a double, clear-plastic canopy top, exaggerated hooded headlight pods, and very large, outward-canted tailfins. The Futura had a complete powertrain and was fully operable, in contrast to many show cars. Its original color was pearlescent white, one of the first pearlescent color treatments, using ground pearl to achieve the effect. The Futura was powered by a 368 cubic inch Lincoln engine and powertrain; the

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

was a modified 1953 Lincoln chassis. 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 The Lincoln Premiere was a luxury car model sold by Lincoln in the 1956 to 1960 model years. Positioned below the company's Continental Mark II coupe during 1956–1957 and above the Capri which it shared from 1956–1959, it was produced in 2 and ...

and Lincoln Capri. The concave front grille inspired the grille on the 1960

Mercury Monterey The Mercury Monterey is a series of full-size cars that were manufactured and marketed by the Mercury division of Ford from 1952 to 1974. Deriving its name from Monterey Bay, the Mercury Monterey served as the upscale version of the Mercury C ...

and the 1960 Ford Galaxie. The styling showed a progression from the

Mercury XM-800 The Mercury XM-800 is a concept car created by Mercury and first introduced at the 1954 Chicago Auto Show. In newspaper publicity at its 1954 debut, in Chicago and elsewhere, it was presented with its full name, Mercury Monterey XM-800. The ...

introduced in 1954.

Media appearances

The Futura played a prominent part in the 1959 movie '' It Started with a Kiss,'' starring

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her career spanned almost 70 years. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portra ...

and Glenn Ford. For the movie, it was painted red, as the white pearlescent finish did not photograph well. 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. 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. 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 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 ''

'' television series. Originally the auto stylist Dean Jeffries was contracted to build the car for the show in late 1965, but when the studio wanted the car sooner than he could deliver, the project was given to Barris.St. Antoine, Arthur.
"Interview: Dean Jeffries, Hollywood legend"
- ''

Motor Trend Magazine ''MotorTrend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949. Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles published ''MotorTrend'' until 1998, when it was sold to B ...

'' With the short notice, Barris thought the Futura might work well, and using Jeffries's initial car, decided that its unusual winged shape would be an ideal starting point for the Batmobile. Barris hired

Bill Cushenbery Bill Cushenbery (March 22, 1933 – December 12, 1998) was an American car customizer, show car builder, and model kit designer. Cushenbery was a major influence on the look of custom cars and the customizing industry in general. In addition t ...

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. 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. Barris sold the Batmobile to Rick Champagne at the

Barrett-Jackson Barrett-Jackson is an American collector car auction company headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was founded by Scottsdale business partners Tom Barrett and Russ Jackson. They initially launched a car show, Fiesta de los Autos Elegantes, in 1 ...

collector car auction on Saturday, January 19, 2013 in Scottsdale, Arizona for US $4.62 million.

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. 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''. After finishing the car the Futura was eventually sold at the Grand National Roadster Show at the

Pomona Fairplex Fairplex has been the home of the L.A. County Fair since 1922. Known prior to 1984 as the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, it is located in the city of Pomona, California. The L.A. County Fair is held during the month of May since 2022, but the fac ...

for approximately $90,000.

References

External links