Monogram's 1955 Lincoln Futura Concept Car: WIP

[T-Ray]

Because of this thread, I fell down a rabbit hole of trying to find the "true" color of the Futura and frankly, I have no idea. My best guess is an extremely light green, almost white? Some pictures it looks white, others white with a little green, others are fully seafoam green. 

Also, unrelated to paint color, I realized how little George Barris changed from the Futura to the Batmobile. That being said, you probably could convert the Polar Lights Batmobile back into the Futura.. Only question would be what Ford to use for the chassis. 

Rambling aside, Car looks great!

[NOBLNG]

Cool project David!? I think the green will look good on it.?

[LennyB]

8 hours ago, T-Ray said:

Because of this thread, I fell down a rabbit hole of trying to find the "true" color of the Futura and frankly, I have no idea. My best guess is an extremely light green, almost white? Some pictures it looks white, others white with a little green, others are fully seafoam green. 

Also, unrelated to paint color, I realized how little George Barris changed from the Futura to the Batmobile. That being said, you probably could convert the Polar Lights Batmobile back into the Futura.. Only question would be what Ford to use for the chassis. 

Rambling aside, Car looks great!

It was actually several different colors over it's lifetime. Started out as Pearl White and ended up Red when it was featured in the film “It Started with a Kiss”. Which is the color when it was sold to George for $1. Common for automakers to paint concept vehicles several different colors so it appears as if more then one of them exist.

 

Power-train and chassis was a Lincoln Mark II

[David G.]

On 5/30/2024 at 5:37 AM, customline said:

 Really like this build, David. Clever use of magnets and I think, because of the rarity of the kit, you would do well to retain the occupants for display. They "belong" ?.  How many car kits include figures?  I dunno, Dave, they are a handsome couple ?.

Thank you Jim. The figures will most likely stay with the car, I just don't like having my options limited.

 

On 5/30/2024 at 5:58 AM, Anglia105E said:

This build of yours is very interesting David G. . . . For some reason the 1955 Lincoln Futura reminds me of the early Batmobile !!!

Your use of micro magnets just makes me want to use mine for some aspect of the Phantom III build. Those ' little marvels ' have been sitting immediately to my left as I sit at the workbench, and I am waiting for the right moment to incorporate the magnets in my build . . . Maybe the opening doors or the bonnet panels?

I understand how you feel about the figures for your Lincoln not being permanently fixed, and your solution with the removable steering wheel is pure genius . . .

Regarding the paint colour for this car, I do agree that pale green is much more suited to the car than white, and one possibility might be a two-tone pale green and white paint scheme, which would be so 1950's . . .

David W.

Thank you for your kind comments David.

You are correct. The Batmobile from the 60's television show was built by George Barris using the Futura as a starting point. He bought it for the princely sum of $1.00. (That's $9.68 in 2024 dollars.)   

Here's a photo of what it looked like when Barris acquired it from Ford.

 

Some people are of the opinion that Barris ruined the Futura when he made the Batmobile. I feel that he rescued it from obscurity. How many concept cars from that era are just ...gone. Faded from knowledge and history.

I have considered a two tone paint scheme but I'm not sure I have the proper fashion sense to design an appealing pattern. I have no examples to go by as of yet. The 1956 Lincoln is of similar design but the body style differs.

-D-

 

21 hours ago, T-Ray said:

Because of this thread, I fell down a rabbit hole of trying to find the "true" color of the Futura and frankly, I have no idea. My best guess is an extremely light green, almost white? Some pictures it looks white, others white with a little green, others are fully seafoam green. 

Also, unrelated to paint color, I realized how little George Barris changed from the Futura to the Batmobile. That being said, you probably could convert the Polar Lights Batmobile back into the Futura.. Only question would be what Ford to use for the chassis. 

Rambling aside, Car looks great!

It's interesting how we tend to go off on those tangents, isn't it Tom?

Thank you. I'm glad you like the work I've done so far.

 

17 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Cool project David!? I think the green will look good on it.?

Thank you Len.

I'm actually pleasantly surprised by the favorable response to my color selection. I thought there would be more push-back with the "inaccuracy" of my choice.

Thank you all, I appreciate that.

David G.

 

[customline]

1 hour ago, David G. said:

Thank you Jim. The figures will most likely stay with the car, I just don't like having my options limited.

 

I wasn't suggesting you glue them to the seats, David.  I just thought it would be cool to display the car with the figures in place. 

[David G.]

2 hours ago, customline said:

I wasn't suggesting you glue them to the seats, David.  I just thought it would be cool to display the car with the figures in place. 

I know. I had to make the steering wheel removable. Otherwise the driver would have been trapped in the seat.

-D-

[gtx6970]

I've got one I built several years ago.

 

They make for a nice shelf piece once done

[David G.]

17 hours ago, gtx6970 said:

I've got one I built several years ago.

 

They make for a nice shelf piece once done

Thank you for your comment Bill.

Feel free to post a photo of yours here if you have one. I'd love to see it.

David G.

[bh1701]

Dave,

Here are a few photos of one I built many years ago. I used a Testor's color that was available at that time that I thought looked like the color on the box; I think it might have been Turquoise. I built it straight out of the box without doing any of the extra work you are doing on yours. I will be following this thread to see how yours turns out!

Bart

 

 

[David G.]

That is a great color for this car Bart. The green you painted yours is closer to the color I imagined when deciding the color for mine. Sort of a pale mint green.

It's also neat seeing it side by side with the Barris Batmobile. I'll have to do a similar photo shoot when mine is done.

Thanks for posting those photos Bart, I really enjoyed seeing them.

David G.

[Anglia105E]

Nice to see the Lincoln Futura directly alongside the Batmobile, and that is a good choice of paint colour, sort of a pale Turquoise . . .

I guess it is not a huge leap to transform the Lincoln into the even more futuristic Batmobile, which is what George Barris must have realised back in 1966

David W.

[Daddyfink]

I just remembered that it was used in the movie "It Started With A Kiss" with Glenn Ford and Debbie Reynolds! He apparently wins the car in a raffle! 

[David G.]

55 minutes ago, Daddyfink said:

I just remembered that it was used in the movie "It Started With A Kiss" with Glenn Ford and Debbie Reynolds! He apparently wins the car in a raffle! 

 

Yeah, I briefly considered painting this one red but given the body style I thought that it would be a little too much.

Now black on the other hand...  

 ...oh wait, that's already been done.  

Never mind.

David G.

[bh1701]

David,

This popped up in my Facebook feed today. Thought I'd send it along. This is more than likely a replica Futura and not the original. I think the color you had on the dashboard in this thread should work just fine on your model.

Bart

[David G.]

32 minutes ago, bh1701 said:

David,

This popped up in my Facebook feed today. Thought I'd send it along. This is more than likely a replica Futura and not the original. I think the color you had on the dashboard in this thread should work just fine on your model.

Bart

Very cool! Thanks for sharing this Bart, I've grabbed a copy for my file. It's tough to find a good rear 3/4 view like this.

David G.

[70 Sting]

This build is looking awesome.  Probably a little late, but Netflix has a series called Car Masters where they built a replica of the Futura.

[gtx6970]

On 6/2/2024 at 5:29 AM, David G. said:

Thank you for your comment Bill.

Feel free to post a photo of yours here if you have one. I'd love to see it.

David G.

Best I have. I built this close to 10 years ago now I think.

I went with a pearl white.

As I never found with 100% certainty the exact color. 

Was it green.?

Was it blue?

Was it white ?

 

Or some combination of the colors.

No matter..mines done and I have zero interest to change it now.

[David G.]

From the research I've done Bill, the original color was pearl white. Literally pearl white. In that thousands of seashells were ground up to make the paint. Quite an extravagance if you ask me. As I understand it, the green look in some of the photos was a result of some error in processing or printing the photos of the original pearl white car.

The other correct color was red as seen in the movie "It Started With A Kiss". That was before George Barris got ahold of it, painted it black and made it into the legendary Batmobile for the old TV show.

Your build looks good Bill, I think it's the only one I've seen built that's painted white. Most are some shade of pearl green.

Thanks for taking the time to post the photos.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

The body work on the Futura continues, here's the next update.

I managed to get the junction of the rear deck and rear quarter mostly smoothed out. Now it's time to get back of the car to meet the rear bumper (buttress?).

 

 

And this side is even worse.

 

 

I added some styrene chips back-filled with CA and baking soda to give myself some material to work with.

 

 

A little filing and shaping... Now we're getting somewhere!

 

 

Just a bit of putty and some sanding and we should be home free!

 

That's all for this round.

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to post any comments or questions you may have.

David G. 

[customline]

After seeing those photos of the finished models above and despite the issues you are having to contend with, I am now trying to find one of these kits at a reasonable price. The unique nature of the subject is calling to me and( thanks a lot Dave ? ) now I've gotta have one. I wonder how a conventional roof would look on one of these. A "breezeway" style or the roof off of a Starliner maybe? Oh no...it's happening again....?

[Dann Tier]

On 5/26/2024 at 9:08 AM, David G. said:

Hello Everybody!

It's time for me to post another update for the Lincoln Futura, so here it is!

This kit comes with two figures. The instructions indicate that if the figures are to be used, they need to be placed into the car before adding the steering wheel. This effectively makes them more or less permanent. However, I would like to retain the option of displaying the car without the figures. Or displaying the figures in a different car. 

 

 

Based on that, I decided that I would make the steering wheel removable. I've drilled out the dashboard and steering wheel to accommodate a set of 3mm micro magnets. One mounted in the steering wheel column and protruding about 1mm, the second one in the dashboard inset by about 1mm, giving the steering wheel a positive location point. That way it automatically aligns itself properly when installed.

 

 

With just a click and a snap, it works as it should.

 

 

Now I can display the model either with or without the figures.

 

As always, thanks for stopping by to have a look, please feel free to sign the guest book on your way out.

David G.

Brilliant!!

[Dann Tier]

I'm loving following this...its looking brilliant!

[Bugatti Fan]

Holy broken bones Batman !

Nice to see a model of the actual car that sired the Adam West Batmobile from the 1960's TV.

This model is coming on well. It is always interesting to see American concept car models from that era.I

I can remember building a 3 wheeled concept car model with a VW engine by Monogram way back and I think a Pontiac that Revell re released a few years ago.

[David G.]

On 6/4/2024 at 5:39 AM, customline said:

After seeing those photos of the finished models above and despite the issues you are having to contend with, I am now trying to find one of these kits at a reasonable price. The unique nature of the subject is calling to me and( thanks a lot Dave ? ) now I've gotta have one. I wonder how a conventional roof would look on one of these. A "breezeway" style or the roof off of a Starliner maybe? Oh no...it's happening again....?

Best of luck finding one Jim. I've had mine for a few years and I was lucky to find it cheap at a model car swap meet.

It's difficult for me to imagine this car with anything other than its bubble top. Every design feature of this car is tailored to fit with so integrally every other feature that it's challenging for my mind to separate them from each other. 

 

4 hours ago, Dann Tier said:

Brilliant!!

Thank you Dann, I do love these little magnets.

 

4 hours ago, Dann Tier said:

I'm loving following this...its looking brilliant!

Thank you most kindly.

It's good seeing you on the boards again, welcome back.

 

4 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Holy broken bones Batman !

Nice to see a model of the actual car that sired the Adam West Batmobile from the 1960's TV.

This model is coming on well. It is always interesting to see American concept car models from that era.I

I can remember building a 3 wheeled concept car model with a VW engine by Monogram way back and I think a Pontiac that Revell re released a few years ago.

 

Thank you Noel.

Some of the design features from the Futura did carry over to Lincolns for the next model year. For the longest time I believed that the Barris Batmobile was a customized 1956 Lincoln Premier.

 

Yes, I too enjoy the American concept cars of this era. Many of them seemed to be adolescent flights of fancy in an era where anything was possible.

A far cry from today's jellybean concept clones.

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me.

David G. 

 

[slusher]

Another very interesting and classic your building David  I haven’t been on very long lately.  Coming along nicely friend!