Without time to plan a car from scratch, Barris decided the Futura was the car to build. Barris retained ownership of the original Batmobile until 2013, when it sold at auction for $4.6 million. The one you see here is a replica that was built by the Barris Custom group and is believed to have been built for the



40th anniversary of the Barris Customs Garage. It was signed by George Barris, as was the Bat boat in the collection. The first Batmobile from the two Joel Schumacher Batman movies is here, as are Val Kilmer and Michael Keaton era Batmobiles. The last two original bat cycles, which were not used on screen but were used for promotional purposes, are housed here. There is a really cool Messerschmitt that has been built as a Batman themed tribute. And there is also a replica Batmobile made by Fiberglass Freaks, who hold the license to make reproduction Batmobiles. The company owner is retiring, and they are only making five more, so if you want one you better act fast (list price: $299,999!).

The next stop was the Cuba Libre area, also called Main Street USA, featuring cars mostly from the ‘40’s that were representative of the cars to be found in pre-Castro Cuba. There is a reproduction of a Cuban-built truck that was used to “drive” from Cuba to the US, and a DeSoto Custom woody station wagon. Moving on, our next stop was the military area. European military vehicles from Germany, Italy, England and France line one side of the room, American vehicles on the other. Jeeps, Hummers, mutts, ducks and a few motorcycles round out the military collection.

At this point we had worn out our host Cory, and he began to transition us over to Robert for our last few stops. They both introduced us to the next stop, the General Store, which houses a collection of vintage TVs, radios, antique phones and typewriters from all over the world. Many of these items came with the Artegon Marketplace when Mr. Dezer purchased it. This room had been the location of a merchant in the mall who left and did not take their stuff with them. It’s not cars or movie themed, but the space does fit with the overall theme of Dezerland. Bravo for keeping it and incorporating it into the collection.