George Barris, the King of Kustom Kars

George Barris has created memorable autos for Hollywood, including the Batmobile

LOS ANGELES, California -- Americans' love affair with automobiles is well-known, and no one knows more about that love than car designer George Barris. His name may not be familiar to the public, but his work is: He's the brains behind the Beverly Hillbillies' old truck, the Munster family's Koach and the original Batmobile from the 1960s TV series "The Adventures of Batman."

Barris' teen-age hobby of collecting toy cars and customizing and racing hot rods jump-started his career. In the `50s, he built the cars for a series of hot-rod movies, including James Dean's road racer in the 1955 classic, "Rebel Without A Cause."

Barris' creations caught the attention of author Tom Wolfe, who dubbed Barris the "Picasso of automobiles," and wrote about his cars in his 1965 debut novel "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby."

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CNN's Jim Moret goes along for the ride with pop culture legend George Barris Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

His customized cars span several generations in both movies and on TV.

Barris transformed stock cars into stunt cars for "The Dukes of Hazzard," built Kitt the talking car in "Knight Rider" and the seemingly driver-less Ford Explorers in 1993's "Jurassic Park," to name just a few.

Barris also created many well-known product vehicles such as the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, the Coppertone Squirtmobile and Volkswagen's Pokemon Beetle.

Now in his 70s, Barris owns and runs the Kustom Kar Shop in North Hollywood, California, where he still designs cars and adds to his toy car collection.

What does the King of Cars drive himself?

Barris says it depends on the day, and with 22 cars in his garage, including a Jeep, a Jaguar and a Trans-Am, he's not lacking for choices.

George Barris, King of the Kustomizers

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