Although Bradley came from the car industry GM, he only designed one of the full sized vehicles his Hot Wheels were created from: The famous Deora concept, which had been built by Mike and Larry Alexander. “I don’t think many people knew the Deora was a real vehicle”, Harry mused. I’m a personal fan of the Hot Heap, created from Don Tognotti’s real-life show car, the King-T, which took AMBR in 1964.

via The Jalopy Journal » Blog Archive » Harry Bradley’s Hot Wheels…..

“I really had to be careful not to over-restore it and make it too nice,” Todd Newton said. “The rough edges around the windows and the holes that they cut in the floor — I left them all just the way they were. I didn’t smooth things out or try to do anything different. We didn’t want anything to be too good. If they torch cut something, I did too.”

via Old Cars Weekly -.

They are part of “Good Guys, Bad Guys, Hot Cars” exhibition opening at the Petersen Automotive Museum.

via From the ‘Magnum P.I.’ Ferrari to the Batcycle: TV cars to go on display – Drive On: A conversation about the cars and trucks we drive – USATODAY.com.

Then, sadly, Elden passed away in October of 2008 and work on the Project was halted at that time. At the end of 2009, Elden’s widow, Tammy, decided that the project had to be completed according to Elden’s wishes and was determined to see the car finished.

SO, the VIBRASONIC ROADSTER PROJECT is back in action ! And, the build-up in CKD is once again on schedule. (See CKD #40 )

via HubGarage.com – BACK ON TRACK: ELDEN TITUS-GEORGE BARRIS “The Vibrasonic Roadster” ! Hear the complete story now !!.

As the story goes, back in the early 1970s, 64 university teams built cars to compete in the Urban Vehicle Design Challenge, with this machine coming out of the labs at the University of California – Los Angeles. The Gremlin was donated to UCLA by American Motors and Ford provided a 351 Cleveland V8. The UCLA team worked with suppliers such as Hooker, Edelbrock, Union Carbide and none other than Kustom Kar King George Barris to get the supplies needed to convert the V8 to run on hydrogen and get the car competition ready. The Impco-provided hydrogen tanks in the back only gave the Gremlin a 68-mile range, but considering the lack of fuel injection and sophisticated electronics, that’s not bad.

via Autoblog — We Obsessively Cover The Auto Industry.

Paul Hefti of Toluca Lake came out to see the new Spirit with his wife, Denise. His father, Neal Hefti, wrote the theme music for the 1960s “Batman” TV series.

“My wife wants the red one, and I like the Lakers, so I’ll take the yellow-and-purple Camaro,” he said. “They’re gorgeous!”

via Burbank Leader > Archives > Entertainment > Freeing the spirit.

Is there any room in this world for another “special-edition” muscle car? Famed custom car designer George Barris apparently thinks so, as he’s lent his name to a new customized — er, sorry, “kustomized” — 2010 Chevrolet Camaro.

via George Barris Launches “Kustomized” Chevrolet Camaro Spirit – Automotive News & Car Rumors at Automobile Magazine.

Rev up to this ginchy 1976 article from DYNAMITE MAGAZINE! Super car-customizer George Barris talks about his life creating one-of-a-kind show rods, TV vehicles, and groovy rods! George is the creator responsible for the great 1966 Batmobile, from the ABC TV series, among many others! Click to enlarge!

But the car that ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons came in and stared at for an hour and a half is this radical 1941 Ford: chopped seven inches, channeled six inches over the frame, sectioned out of the body another four inches, with a genuine Carson removable top from the 1960s; paint-shot in satin black with flames hand-done in white ice pearl. It was first customized by George Barris, who designed the Batmobile.

Read the rest of the story by Doug Elfman over at the Las Vegas review Journal