- This Batmobile is faithful to the looks of the TV series car.
- Built on a Lincoln chassis, this isn’t a static model but a running and driving car.
- It has fresh paint and is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
KAPOW! SOCK! BLAMMO! This Batmobile could hit onlookers like a right hook from Adam West. Built on the chassis of a 1979 Lincoln Continental, it’s up for sale on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos).Courtesy: Bring a Trailer”Holy jet engine, Batman!” Now, calm down, Robin, that part’s not functional. However, this faithful replica does run and drive, and there’s nothing to prevent you and a sidekick from dressing up and driving around town fighting crime. The Lincoln Continental underpinnings include a 400-cubic-inch V-8 and a three-speed automatic, so it’s ideal for rumbling down the street and waving to everyone on the sidewalk. Carry on, citizens. The Penguin’s not going to get away with kidnapping the mayor again.Courtesy: Bring a TrailerThe original Batmobile was just a regular car, a convertible 1939 Cadillac Series 75 painted black, and it was used by Batman and Robin both in-costume and as Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. Later, in 1963, a customized Oldsmobile Rocket 88 was styled with some of the Bat-like features for the DC Comics. The success of this car as a promotional vehicle may have prompted the producers of the mid-1960s TV show to order up something special. And if you wanted a cool customized hero car in the sixties, you gave George Barris a call.Courtesy: Bring a TrailerFor 1966’s Batman series and movie Barris took the 1955 Ford Futura concept car he already had in his workshop—reportedly, he’d bought it off Ford for one dollar—and quickly transformed it into a shape that would become familiar to millions. He retained ownership of the Batmobile, and leased it to the TV and film production crew, later auctioning off the car at Barrett-Jackson for a cool $4.62 million. Presumably the funds were handed over in paper brown sacks with dollar signs printed on them.Courtesy: Bring a TrailerThis replica looks to have been done faithfully, and while gadgets like the radar screen are mostly non-functional props, it does have recent paintwork and will certainly draw a crowd. The fiberglass bodywork is said to be from Batrodz of New York, a Batmobile replica specialist.Courtesy: Bring a TrailerBeing mounted on a Lincoln chassis does make this replica one step more faithful to the original, as the Futura’s chassis was the forerunner to that of the mid-’50s Continental. So strap on your utility belt and get ready to go punch campy cartoon criminality right in its face. Or in the case of Two-Face, faces, plural.
Related StoriesThe auction ends on May 7.Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.
Source: caranddriver.com
