![]() So we decided to offer a production version.” Adam West, who played Batman on the classic ’60s series, shows the Wing-Bat to a young fan. He loved it and thought car enthusiasts would like it. “I built him a guitar made with his crest as the body. Barris the second time, I thought to myself, ‘What can I take him as a gift?” said Shade. The company is making the Wing-Bat model, inspired by the Barris’ Batmobile from the “Batman” TV series (replete with “turbine”), as well as the Barris Krest model, symbol of the builder’s creations. So my thought was simply, ‘Why not combine the two?’” Bob Shade, Billy F Gibbons, and George Barris with prototypes of the Dragula, Barris Krest, and Wing-Bat models. If you think about custom-car builders and custom-guitar builders, they’re not all that different from each other. “I hand-built some unique and crazy one-of-a-kind guitars for artists, celebrities, and myself. “I have always been a huge fan of George’s work,” said luthier and Hallmark owner Bob Shade. ![]() George Barris is continuing his association with instrument builders via collaboration with Hallmark Guitars, which is building guitars based on classic Barris models that appeared on TV and in the movies in the ’60s. Barris, Hallmark Collaborate On Custom Instruments ![]() The Wing-Bat prototype atop the vehicle that inspired it. Another from this shoot was used on the cover of Bryant’s “Fastest Guitar in the Country” album. Barris took this shot of the car with Jimmy Bryant. Thanks to the efforts of a pair of Denver ’60s-o-philes, however, who saved it from obscurity in cold storage, the plan is afoot to reintroduce this one-off wonder to society. But for the past couple of decades, rather than cruising the events and parades at which this promotional vehicle was intended to shine, or glistening in an automotive museum, the Voxmobile has been languishing largely out of the public eye. If the Voxmobile looks a little familiar, there’s a good chance you once caught a glimpse of it in a former life, in one of its many TV appearances on shows such as “Groovy,” “Where the Action Is,” or “Dialing For Dollars,” or on the lobby card for the 1968 Jack Nicholson movie Psych-Out. Beneath its world’s-fastest-guitar exterior hides a bundle of surprises. With its blend of Brit-beat swing and hot rod shwang, however, the Voxmobile is bound to land atop any guitar fiend’s list of slickest street rods. This tricked-out custom hot rod was built in 1967 by George Barris, “King of the Kustomizers,” best known for his rolling works of art such as the Batmobile, the Munster Koach, the Monkey Mobile, the General Lee, and other custom cars seen on TV and in the movies in the ’60s and ’70s. How cool is that? Okay, maybe we should have worried a little more about one or two things, but the gear looked good, anyway, and few pieces of pop culture were anywhere near as hip and groovy as the Voxmobile. Man, those were the days! Free love, slick guitars, hot cars – and hey, you didn’t even have to worry about seatbelts, fuel consumption, or emissions standards. Voxmobile archive photos courtesy Brett Barris/Barris Kustom Industries. ![]() VG Overdrive is sponsored by Reverb’s Free Pedal Friday – ENTER TO WIN! Voxmobile/Kevin Ryan photos: Ward Mahanke, courtesy K.
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