Mark Towle | |
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Known for | Automobile and motorcycle customizing, hot rod art and pinstriping |
Notable work |
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Website | www |
Mark Towle is a car mechanic and car and motorcycle restorer and designer, best known as the owner of a car restoration and makeover shop called Gotham Garage based in Temecula, California. [1] [2] [3] The shop has built props for movie studios and television shows. [2] [4] [5] In 2018, Netflix released Car Masters: Rust to Riches , which features Towle and his Gotham Garage team. [6] [7]
Earlier in 2015, Towle became a defendant in a copyright infringement case filed and subsequently won by DC Comics regarding Towle's replication and sale of Batmobiles. [4]
Towle's and his Gotham Garage crew's 1:1 replica of the Plymouth XNR is displayed at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. [8] Other notable Gotham Garage rebuilds include the Lincoln Futura that Towle's team sold at the 2018 Grand National Roadster Show (held at the Pomona Fairplex), shown in season 1 of Car Masters: Rust to Riches. [9] [10]
The Lincoln Futura is a concept car promoted by Ford's Lincoln brand, designed by Ford's lead stylists Bill Schmidt and John Najjar, and hand-built by Ghia in Turin, Italy — at a cost of $250,000.
The Batmobile is the fictional car driven by the superhero Batman. Housed in the Batcave, which it accesses through a hidden entrance, the Batmobile is both a heavily armored tactical assault vehicle and a personalized custom-built pursuit and capture vehicle that is used by Batman in his fight against crime. Using the latest civilian performance technology, coupled with prototype military-grade hardware—most of which was developed by Wayne Enterprises—Batman creates an imposing hybrid monster car to prowl the streets of Gotham City.
George Barris was an American designer and builder of Hollywood custom cars. Barris designed and built the Hirohata Merc. Barris's company, Barris Kustom Industries, designed and built the Munster Koach and DRAG-U-LA for The Munsters; and the 1966 Batmobile for the Batman TV series and film.
Overhaulin' is an American automotive reality television series. The show originally ran for five seasons between 2004 and 2008 on TLC. After a four-year hiatus, sixth season premiered on October 2, 2012 on Velocity and Discovery (Cablevision). In June 2019, it was announced that the show would be returning for a new season on November 16, 2019 on Motor Trend.
The Petersen Automotive Museum is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles. One of the world's largest automotive museums, the Petersen Automotive Museum is a nonprofit organization specializing in automobile history and related educational programs.
Discovery Turbo is a pay television channel devoted to programming about transport. It is similar to Discovery Velocity and Motor Trend. It was also briefly available as an on-demand service in the US in the late 2000s.
Robert Einar "Pete" Petersen was an American publisher who founded the Petersen Automotive Museum in 1994.
The Batman OnStar commercials were a series of six television commercials featuring comic book superhero Batman, created by ad-agency Campbell-Ewald and based on the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher Batman film series, airing from 2000 to the beginning of 2002. The commercials promoted the use of the automobile onboard guiding system OnStar. The commercials were successful, leading to a large increase in subscribers and a higher rate of subscriber renewals.
John Najjar was an American designer and executive stylist at Ford Motor Company. He is credited for having co-designed the first prototype of the Ford Mustang known as Ford Mustang I with Philip T. Clark.
The Eastwood Company is a seller of automotive restoration products, headquartered in Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1978, the company was started by Curt Stroker. "Do-It-Yourself" and "Do the Jobs Right" are the mottos of the company.
Roadkill is an automotive-themed internet show produced by the MotorTrend Group. It is hosted by former Hot Rod Magazine editor David Freiburger and former technical staff editor Mike Finnegan. Roadkill is primarily filmed in Southern California, with other episodes taking place across the United States, Canada and Australia.
The Plymouth XNR is a concept car developed by Chrysler. It was designed by Virgil Exner, and first shown in 1960. Also called the XNR 500, the car is an open roadster with some asymmetric features, and was proposed as a sporty addition to the Plymouth model lineup, and as competition for the Chevrolet Corvette.
The Vaydor is constructed with a body kit that is designed to be built onto a 2003-2007 Infiniti G35 coupe donor car.</ref> Vaydor Body Kits are currently available for purchase only from Vaydor Supercar and manufactured by Custom Crafted Cars based out of Saint Petersburg, Fl. The Vaydor first appeared in public at the 2013 SEMA auto show.
Car Masters: Rust to Riches is an American reality television series on Netflix. The premise revolves around the crew from Gotham Garage, who have built a number of props for movie studios and television shows over the years. The group, led by Mark Towle, give classic cars modern makeovers in an attempt to raise their value and ultimately earn the company large profits. Each episode takes up one unique project.
Bill Cushenbery was an American car customizer, show car builder, and model kit designer. Cushenbery was a major influence on the look of custom cars and the customizing industry in general. In addition to building his own designs, he is noted for having helped George Barris create the Batmobile car featured in the 1966–1968 Batman television series.
Hyperdrive is a 2019 American documentarian non-scripted auto racing reality television series on Netflix that is executive produced by Charlize Theron. The series follows elite racing drivers from across the globe competing against each other on one of the largest existing automotive courses.
DC Comics v. Mark Towle was a copyright case heard in the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit in September 2015. The case concerned defendant Mark Towle, who built and sold replicas of the Batmobile in his garage named 'Garage Gotham'. DC Comics initially filed a lawsuit, in May 2011, in the federal district court alleging causes of action for copyright infringement, trademark infringement and unfair competition arising out of Mark's manufacture and sale of replicas. The plaintiffs, DC Comics, claimed the infringement of their copyright as the replicas sold by Mark were similar to the ones that appeared in 1966 television show Batman and the 1989 film Batman. The issue discussed by the court was "whether a character in a comic book, television program or motion picture is entitled to copyright protection". The ninth circuit followed the precedents and came up with a three-part test to determine the protection given to such characters.
Benson Ford Sr., originally named Edsel Ford Jr, was an American businessman in the automotive industry, a vice-president of Ford Motor Company, and national co-chairman of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. Benson Ford remains famous for: being the first prominent person in the Ford family to actively preach religious harmony between faiths through his NCCJ co-chairmanship ; through the internationally famous Benson Ford Research Center in Dearborn, Michigan, which bears his name; and the now historic 1924 Great Lakes freighter Benson Ford Ship named after him, now known as the Benson Ford Shiphouse, in Put-In-Bay, Ohio. Benson was also noteworthy as being the one member of the Ford family most closely associated with Lincoln-Mercury, rather than Ford, where under Benson's guidance the experimental Lincoln Futura car was developed. The Futura later became the most famous and recognizable car in the world for several years, television's Batmobile driven by Batman actor Adam West.
The Golden Sahara II or Concept Goodyear Golden Sahara II is a futuristic concept car designed by American custom car designer George Barris, based on the 1953 Lincoln Capri, presented at the Petersen Motorama show in Los Angeles in 1954 and upgraded to Version II in 1956.