King still Kustomizing: Passion for creation still burns inside legendary car Kustomizer George Barris

If you don't know the legendary George Barris by name, you know his cars: the Batmobile, Munster Koach, the Beverly Hillbillies car, the KITT car from the '80s TV show "Knight Rider," among others.

At 82, he is busier than people half his age. On weekends he travels to auto shows and he is still involved in creating cars for TV shows, such as the reality show based on Hugh Hefner's girls, "The Girls Next Door." His fifth annual Barris "Cruisin' Back to the '50s" car show will be held in downtown Culver City, California, on May 10.

Last year his Batmobile was released for consumers from Mattel through their Hot Wheels line (1:64 scale), the 1:18 scale recently became available.

His secret to longevity? "I figure staying busy keeps you alive, if you retire, you die," Barris says with a chuckle.

Barris' Southern California shop feels more like a museum/showroom -- an homage to Barris, his cars and Hollywood's Golden Age. Two years ago he sold 110 of his cars.

His cars are in museums such as the Petersen Automotive Museum, Volo Museum in Ill., Hollywood Star Cars Museum in Gatlinburg, Tenn., as well as in private collections. Barris does have the Batmobile, KITT, and the Barrister, which was Bo Derek's. It is a Corvette chassis with a Chevy 454 and a radiator grille in the front. Only eight were made. Others who had Barristers included Sammy Davis, Jr. and James Caan.

Bo Derek's Barrister

"It's what I call a modern classic," he said, referring to the Barrister. "It's aerodynamic in design, but has classic characteristics."

He also has a replica of the silver Porsche Spyder which was created for the 1997 biopic "James Dean: Race with Destiny" in which Dean died in.

Posters from movies he's been involved with line the perimeter of the walls of his shop, such as "Wild Angels," "T-Bird Gang," "The Love Bug," Bruce Lee in the "Kato and the Green Hornet' and "Cannonball Run." Barris also helped produce movies, "Disco Fever," "Super Van" and "Mag Wheels."

Below the posters are hundreds of neatly lined photos of Barris and Hollywood legends he Kustomized cars for: Elvis, Bob Hope, Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Sonny and Cher, John Lennon and Yoko Ono to name a few.

Barris said the Munster mobile is currently being restored by Mike Gray at Advanced Restorations in Sacramento. It had a Ford 289 engine, but they are putting in a new Roush powerplant.

His office is lined with hundreds of toy models of his cars (he helped create Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars) and shows he's been involved with such as "Dukes of Hazzard," "The A-Team" and "CHiPs." His daughter Joji works in an office filled with all kinds of Batmobile toy cars.