Lincoln Futura

1955 Lincoln Futura Concept

The Lincoln Futura wis a concept caur designed bi the Lincoln diveesion o Ford Motor Company. It wis biggit bi Ghia entirely bi haund in Italy at a cost o $250,000 an displayed on the auto show circuit in 1955.

Futura's stylin wis extravagantly impractical even bi the staundarts o the '50s, wi a dooble, clear-plastic canopy tap, exaggeratit huidit heidlicht pods, an vera lairge, ootward-cantit tailfins at baith ends o the vehicle. Nivertheless, the Futura haed a complete pouertrain an wis fully operable in contrast tae mony show caurs then an nou. Its oreeginal colour wis white, an wis ane o the first pearlescent colour treatments, uisin grund pearl tae achieve the paint effect. The Futura wis pouered bi a 368 cubic inch Lincoln engine an pouertrain; the chassis wis that o a Lincoln Mark II.

The Futura wis a success as a show caur, garnerin a great deal o favorable publicity for Ford. It wis released as a model kit an a toy, an in a muckle mair subdued form its heidlicht an tailfin motifs wad appear on production Lincolns for 1956 an 1957. It even played a prominent pairt in a movie, 1959's It Started with a Kiss, starrin Debbie Reynolds an Glenn Ford. For the movie, it wis paintit reid, as the pearlescent feenish did no photograph well.

Efter that, tho, the caur wad logically hae been forgotten an aiblins destroyed, as maist show caurs o that time wur. Housomeivver, it wis somehou sauld intae the haunds o George Barris, ane o the great auto customizers. As the caur wis niver titled an wis therefore uninsurable, it wis parked ahint Barris' shop whaur it sat idle for several years an wis allaeed tae deteriorate.

In 1966 Barris wis requestit tae design a theme caur for the Batman television series. Barris then contractit stylist Dean Jeffries tae big a caur for the show. Jeffries worked on the design an initial fabrication for the Batmobile, uisin a 1959 Cadillac, but whan the studio wantit the caur faster than he coud deliver, he turned it back tae George Barris. Wi the short notice, Barris thocht the Futura micht wirk well, an uisin Jeffries initial caur, decidit that its unuisual winged shape wad be an ideal stairtin pynt for the Batmobile. Barris hired Bill Cushenberry tae dae the metal modifications tae the caur.

Barris went on tae big three fiberglass replicas uisin the frames an runnin gear frae 1966 Ford Galaxie caurs for the show circuit, three o which wur covered wi a felt-lik flockin finish in the 1970s. Barris later acquired a fowert replica, a metal caur biggit on a 1958 Thunderbird.

Replica

In the 1990s, Bob Butts (unner George Barris' consent) made replicas o the Batmobiles. He teuk ane o the Barris-biggit replica Batmobiles an made a mauld o it. Based on pictures frae whan the Futura wis shawn in the 1950s, he retrofittit ane o his Batmobile replicas intae the Futura. He ae creatit ane copy an syne the oreeginal Futura became the Batmobile, this is the ae kent Futura in existence.

See an aa

• Ford Futura

Freemit airtins

• LincolnFutura.com Archived 2015-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
• Designing the Futura Archived 2008-06-21 at the Wayback Machine
• A very comprehensive Futura page
• It Started with a Kiss at Yahoo movies Archived 2011-05-13 at the Wayback Machine
• Batmobile page showin model kit Archived 2004-10-16 at the Wayback Machine
• Futura/Batmobile toys
• George Barris interview
• Original Batmobile at Barris' own website Archived 2009-02-28 at the Wayback Machine
• Volo Auto Museum Hollywood collection page