Batmobile Creator George Barris Dies At 89

Other than his unique eye for design, what made George Barris the most sought-out car customizer among Hollywood execs and television outfits for many decades is his ability to translate specific concepts into his designs.

"If you'll remember that pow, bang, wow is going out, throughout his whole script, that gives you an idea of what I had to contend with," Barris said on NPR in 2010. "I said, well, if you're going to make these exciting sounds and all this thing that comes up, I'm going to do the same thing to the car."

During his teens, Barris worked at a local auto body shop where he would go after school. At 18, Barris moved to Los Angeles, which was considered the capital of the budding 1940's teen car culture at the time. He later became part of a subculture that liked to showcase flashy customized cars at drive-ins and local stands across Southern California.

In 1948, Hot Rod magazine featured one of George's creations -- a modified Buick. After a few years, George Barris founded the "Kustoms of America" club, which now boasts over 4,300 members worldwide. Hollywood took notice and hired him to customize a car for the 1958 movie High School Confidential.

In September of this year, George Barris made an appearance at an event in Van Nuys, California, to promote his book King of the Kustomizers: The Art of George Barris.

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[Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images]