INTERVIEW WITH TONY WOOD October 2003 Tony Wood with George Barris In 1996, I met Tony at the Route 66 car show in San Bernardino, CA.  He was there working with George Barris and the #1 Batmobile.  This was the first time I had seen the #1 Batmobile and the first time I had met George and Shirley Barris.  After talking with Tony he invited my wife and I to take a private tour of Barris Kustom Industries in North Hollywood, CA. Well the rest is now history, but I wanted to thank Tony and share his stories... Eric: Tell me about yourself? Tony: Okay, here we go. My name is Tony Wood, I am 47 years old. I work in the motion picture industry, which I have most of my life. I work in the transportation dept. Which involves all the equipment and vehicles used in film production. My main hobby is cars motorcycles & boats of any kind. I got interested in them when I was young. When I’m not out doing a movie or TV production I spend my time at Barris Kustom industries. E: How did you get a job at Barris Kustom? T: When I was 7 or 8 years old I used to go to school around the corner from Barris' shop. In the early 60's, after school my friends and I would run over to the shop and glare in the windows and sometimes we were allowed to go inside to look at some of the cars. When I was 18 a friend of mine was working there, and I used to stop by in my custom car at the time. One day I was there and had nothing to do so my friend asked me if I wanted to help him sand and block a wild car he was building for George. The car was to be used for a show called “Electra Woman & Dyna Girl.” So that’s when I first started doing things around the shop. It was like a dream come true . E: How long have you been working there? T: I think the first time I started there was March 1975. E: What do you do there? T: Now I handle all the Barris cars in TV & film productions. Which includes transporting them to and from film locations, driving them in the shows, doing some light stunt work. I prep the cars for car shows local & around the country. I make sure they all run and are detailed. I do all the scheduling for anything that might come up. E: What are your memories regarding the ’55 Lincoln Futura Concept car? T: I remember when I was a kid around 7 or 8 I used to go to the shop on weekends. I used to skip church with my friends early in the morning and at that time you were able to walk around the whole perimeter. We would go out back in what I called "the bone yard." I use to see this salmon colored car. It was real cool, glass roof and chrome all down the sides rotting away for the longest time and right behind it rotting away was this funny looking car. It was a faded yellowish with a white roof I think the interior was a mess. I knew that I had seen it before in a movie, which I later found out, was Jerry Lewis' car in "The Patsy." The car was the D-528 and at the time I thought it was a concept car from the factories in Detroit, but I had no idea what the Futura was. I thought Barris made it for a movie and then it was back there laid to rest. Who knew? Then 2 or 3 years later I saw the car being stripped. The next thing I knew it was on every cover of every magazine in the country and when everyone was talking about this new show coming out called “Batman.” I watched it not knowing that this was the car they were using, I was so excited couldn’t believe my eyes that I saw this car go from one extreme to another. And I said to myself at the time when I grow up I want to drive one of those. Ha Ha Ha.  E: Which Barris car(s) gets the most attention at car shows? T: As far as attention well it depends on what type of show. The most famous is of course the Batmobile. Then if there is a blockbuster movie out that the Barris shop had something to do with, for instance “Fast & Furious" and the cars are appearing then that particular vehicle or vehicles are the highlight of the show. Another all time favorite is the Munster Koach--everyone loves that car. E: I heard from Michael Gale Black that "Korky" Korkes, Bill Cushenbery, Roy "Tubs" Johnson and Les Tompkins worked on building the Batmobile.  What can you tell me about them? T: The thing that I can say is that all those guys were very talented in their own way. Tubs was with George for years up until he past away in 1990. He could paint anything in an hour and make it look real good. Korky is still around. I think he is in the process of restoring his old famous Kustom “The Parisienne.” He was a good metal man. Bill Cushenbery and his talent for building great custom cars for 5 decades that speaks for itself. Les Tompkins I don’t know too much of. But I know that the crew George had on the Batmobile was top notch and it couldn’t be done without them and the short time they had to build it. E: Do you have any funny stories regarding the Batmobile? T: Yes I do, but it’s with one of the clones. We use the clones more often because it’s a lot cheaper to replace it if something were to happen. Although the original Batmobile does run as good as it did in the 60s. One day in the summer of 2002 we were filming a TV movie "Back to the Batcave" with Adam West and Burt Ward. We were using a "clone mobile" which is what I call the other ones. Instead of trailering the car from one location to the next, which was supposed to happen they just said, drive it back and forth. So I did! I left the studios at 7:30 am on my way across town and as usual everyone gives you the thumbs up sign and also the right of way. So off I went in rush hour traffic feeling like I was god (at the same time word was being spreading around town that the Batmobile was seen driving all over Hollywood) no license plates or tags, but I guess if you’re driving the Batmobile that gives you cinematic immunity. I was about 3 or 4 miles away from the studios and I ran out of gas right in the middle on an intersection. People stopped, got out of their cars taking pictures asking questions. Nobody wanted to help move the car out of the street--they were just in awe. E: Tell me something about the Batmobile that we probably didn’t know? T: The original car was almost lost for good; it had to do with U.S. customs. E: What is the most common question people asked about the Batmobile? T: Do the flames work? Or is this the real one? Or what comes out of those sprinkler heads? Or how can I get one? E: How many car shows do you think you’ve taken the Batmobile to? T: Including movie and TV spots maybe 150. E: I’ve heard that the Batmobiles door got damaged in transport a couple of years ago.  Any other nightmare transporting stories you’d care to share? T: One time George had a guy working for him because I couldn’t be there all the time. I was away doing a TV show. So this guy was supposed to move the car and get it ready to be loaded on a truck and shipped to a show. Well then it was on a Saturday morning and the body shop in the back was open and there were people there picking up their cars. This guy saw all the customers and I guess he wanted to show off a little so as he started up the Batmobile he kept revving up the car, put it gear and the throttle stuck wide open. Out the door it flew (like flying out of the Batcave) bounced off a wall across the lot, turned left, bounced off a small retaining wall, and he got the car in reverse. Now still full throttle in reverse, backed up, and bounced off the same wall this time putting one of the fins right through the right rear 1/4 panel of a jeep that was just restored after 1 1/2 years in the body shop. George called me almost in tears. Needless to say the guy was gone when I got back to the shop. Ever since that time no one else touches that car except a Barris family member or myself. Unless they have been taught to handle the car. E: How would you describe the Batmobile's current condition? T: The body of the Batmobile is in good shape. It gets repainted every few years. The motor is old but it runs real good too. The interior could probably use a good going over. The seats have been recovered a few times because people used to get their picture taken in it, but not anymore. E: What famous cars have you taken for a spin? T: I have driven all of them I think at one time or another. There’s nothing like going to Bob's Big Boy in the Munster Koach and pulling up to the drive-up window and asking for a burger and fries.  E: What is your favorite Barris Kustom car? T: There are about a dozen kustom TV movie and hot rod cars that George built that I love. I can’t name just one. I could take any car home and like it just the same as another one. E: Do you own any Kustom cars? T: Yes I do, I just acquired a custom car that I have been wanting for 30 years. Now I’m in the long process of redoing it. E: Anything else you’d like to add? T: I think that the creative mind that George Barris has will never be matched.  All the cars that he created over the past (who knows how many years) will be a part of not only the automotive world but everyone who drives a car owes him a great deal of gratitude and respect. One man and his vision, he is truly ahead of his time.