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The Batmobile is the personal automobile of DC Comics superhero Batman. The car has followed the evolution of the character from comic books to television and films.
Batman first drove in Detective Comics #27 (May, 1939). A sedan, the vehicle was simply referred to as "his car". It soon began featuring an increasingly prominent bat motif, typically including distinctive wing-shaped tail fins. The Batmobile has gone on to be changed frequently over the decades.
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Encyclopedia
The Batmobile is the personal automobile of DC Comics superhero Batman. The car has followed the evolution of the character from comic books to television and films.
Batman first drove in Detective Comics #27 (May, 1939). A sedan, the vehicle was simply referred to as "his car". It soon began featuring an increasingly prominent bat motif, typically including distinctive wing-shaped tail fins. The Batmobile has gone on to be changed frequently over the decades. In the early stages of Batman's career, he modified it with armor and technologically advanced automotive customization, and has turned the Batmobile into the sleek street machine he currently drives. The Batmobile has gone through numerous incarnations, and as state-of-the-art technology has continued to advance, the vehicle has had to change to stay a step ahead of real-life cutting edge advances.
Other bat-vehicles soon followed, including the Batplane, Batcycle, Batboat and Robin's Redbird.
Publication history
The vehicle that became the Batmobile was introduced in Detective Comics #27, the first Batman story, and received its name in Detective Comics #48. Originally, the vehicle was a simple red automobile with nothing special in its functions. The car's design gradually evolved. It became a "specially built high-powered auto" by Detective Comics #30, and in Batman #5, it began featuring an ever-larger bat hood ornament and an ever-darker paint job. Eventually, the predominant designs included a large, dark-colored body and bat-like accessories, including large tailfins scalloped to resemble a bat's wings. The early history of the vehicle was influenced by Roadster, Sedan, Hot Rod, Sport Coupe and Drag Racer designs.
The live action television series was so popular that its campy humor and the sleek Batmobile designed by George Barris were quickly introduced into the Batman comic books. But the high camp and general silliness of the television show did not sit well with long-time Batman comic book fans. So, when the series was canceled in 1968 the comic books reacted by becoming darker and more serious. This Batmobile still appeared from time to time in the comic books, most recently in Detective Comics #850 and the issues of Batman Confidential.
In Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, the Batmobile has been modified into a tank-like armored riot control vehicle, complete with machine guns shooting rubber bullets, a large cannon mounted on the front, and large tank treads in place of tires. According to Batman's narration, the only thing that can penetrate its armor "isn't from this planet."
During the Cataclysm storyline, revealed that Batman has hid a number of spare vehicles across the city in case he's unable to reach one of his primary vehicles in time. A HUMVEE served as a primary mean of transportation to across the earthquake-ravaged city during the Aftershock storyline, as most of the Batmobiles were wrecked by the quake. These vehicles aren't as sophisticated as the Batmobiles, but some of them are armored to against ballistics based from military automobiles.
In the Batman: Hush storyline, a splash page by Jim Lee shows all the previous Batmobiles (from comics, movies, and all TV series) in storage in the Batcave. A sample of dialogue between Batman and Nightwing supports this point: Batman: "We'll take the car." Nightwing: "O.K. Which one?" In addition, some incarnations of the character, such as Batman: The Animated Series, establish that Batman has a large ground vehicle fleet of various makes and models as well as utility vehicles to use when the Batmobile would be too conspicuous.
Film serials
Batman
In the 1943 serial film Batman, no attempt was made to create a bona fide Batmobile, so a black Cadillac was used by Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, as well as their secret identities Batman and Robin. Alfred chauffered the Dynamic Duo in both identities. Eventually a limousine replaced the Cadillac.
Batman and Robin
In Batman and Robin, the 1949 successor to the original serial, the Batmobile is again excluded. Instead of a limousine, as in the first serial, the duo drive around in a 1949 Mercury..
Live-action television
The Batmobile from the 19661968 live action television show began life as a Ford concept car called the Lincoln Futura, built over a decade earlier in 1954. The body of the Futura was fabricated by Ghia of Italy, whose artisans hammered the car's panels over logs and tree stumps carved as forms to create the sleek manta ray-like car. In 1959, the Futura was featured sporting a fresh red paint job in the film It Started With A Kiss, starring Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford. In 1965, ABC-TV chose famed Hollywood customizer George Barris to design a "Batmobile" for their soon-to-go-into-production Batman show. Dean Jeffries worked on the design and initial fabrication for the Batmobile, using a 1959 Cadillac, but when the studio wanted the car faster than he could provide, he turned it back to George Barris. With only three weeks to finish, Barris decided that rather than build a car from scratch, it would be best to transform the Lincoln Futura (bought from Ford for $1.00) into the famous crimefighting vehicle of TV's caped crusader. Barris hired Bill Cushenberry to do the metal modifications to the car. When filming for the series began, several problems arose due to the age of the car: it overheated, the battery went dead, and the expensive Mickey Thompson tires kept blowing. By mid season, the engine and transmission were replaced with a Ford Galaxie's. The most frequent visual influence of this car is that later Batmobiles usually have a rear rocket thruster that usually fires as the car makes a fast start.
Technical specifications
- Curb weight: 5500 lb
- Wheelbase: 129 in
- Length: 230 in
- Width: 90 in
- Height: 48 in
- Fins: 84 in
- Engine: 390 in³, V-8 (atomic turbine)
- Transmission: B&M Hydro Automatic (2nd transmission)
Features
This Batmobile's gadgets include a nose-mounted chain slicer, lasers, rockets, an on-board telephone, radar, dash monitor, on-board computer, and police beacon. If needed, the Batmobile is capable of a quick 180° "bat-turn" thanks to two rear-mounted 10' parachutes, and it is equipped with a smoke emitter and a nail spreader to discourage pursuit. Some changes were made during the run of the series, including different license plates, a change in steering wheel, and the addition of extra gadgets such as the rear-facing camera and battering ram. Other devices included:
- Bat-glove Compartment
- Infrared Bat-dust (glows in light and in dark, but only visible when viewed through the Batmobile's specially tinted windshield)
- Emergency Bat-turn Lever (releases the Batmobile's parachute that enables quick turns)
- Bat-deflector (diverts a criminal tracking signal, leading them to a miniature Batcave in the middle of nowhere)
- Bat-ray (can do many things, such as open van doors)
- Super-powered Bat-magnet (for opening steel doors from a distance)
- Odor Sensitometer Radar Circuit (puts a certain scent on the radar screen)
- Ultrasonic Recorder (also records regular sounds)
- Batmobile Parachute Pickup Service Signal (calls aforementioned service to pick the Batmobile's parachute off the city street)
- Emergency Bat-trunk Lock
- Bat-zooka (can fire explosive blasts, or is used to fire bat-ropes to tops of very tall buildings)
- Anti Mechanical Bat-ray (renders mechanical apparati useless)
- Bat-tering Ram (also known as the Bat-ram, used for knocking down reinforced doors)
- Library Paste Bat-dissolving Switch
- Bat-safety Belt
- Bat-radarscope
- Bat-alert Buzzer (in all Bruce's cars, indicates when the Batphone in the Batcave is ringing)
- Bat-scope (television screen that can be used to monitor someone's movements)
- Anti-theft Activator (can be disguised as the Start button, fires fireworks from the car)
- Anti-fire Activator (fills Batmobile with extinguishing foam)
- Bat-ray Projector (fires blue ray from headlights that shut down a car's ignition)
- Hidden Bat-laser Beam
- Homing Receiver Scope
- Inflatable Batmobile (kept in Batmobile for use as a decoy)
- Anti-crime Recorder (with remote radio pick-up, kept in trunk)
- Ultrasonic bat-ray (used for flushing villains out of hiding places)
- High Energy Radar (for probing large, potentially dangerous objects)
- Anti-theft Device (to prevent undesirables from stealing Batmobile)
- Bat Armor (protects Batmobile from explosives; unfortunately leaves tires unprotected
- Automatic Tire Repair Device (automatically repairs Batmobile's damaged tires)
- Bat-o-meter (for tracking radioactive material within a radius)
- Tiny TV Transmitter (sends TV signal from Batmobile to Batcave)
- Emergency Bat-turn Lever (for making 360 degree turns when at full stop)
- Super-speed Afterburner (when engaged, the Batmobile goes very fast)
- Bat-smoke (pressing this button releases a smokescreen)
- Remote Control Batmobile Circuit (should a villain steal the Batmobile, Batman can control it by starting this circuit via a relay link in the Batcave)
- Bat-scope (basically a TV which picks up the local stations)
- Bat-photoscope (works in conjunction with the Microfilm Crime File back in the Batcave. Through this device a photo from the crime file can be reproduced in the Batmobile.)
- Alf-cycle
Other appearances
- Barris built three fiberglass copies of the original Batmobile for exhibition on the car show circuit (one of which was used for exhibition drag racing). Eventually, the three copies were covered with a black velvet "fuzz" paint, presumably to hide stress cracks in the fiberglass bodies. Later, all three were restored to their gloss black paint job. The 3 replicas are all based on a 19651966 Ford Galaxie. Barris has retained ownership of the original TV car, which is currently on display at Barris Customs in North Hollywood, California. The three Barris copies all reside in private collections, one of which was an exhibition drag racing version driven by wheelstanding driver Wild Bill Shrewsberry.
- One of these three Batmobiles was sold at the Coys Spring Classic Cars Auction on February 27, 2007 at the Royal Horticultural Hall in London. Coys Auctions had said it expected the car to fetch more than £75,000 - the final and closing bid was £119,000, equivalent to $233,000 USD at the time.
- In the movie Rock Star, Mark Wahlberg's character is given to extravagant spending; one of his first purchases is the original Batmobile from the TV Series.
- An episode of The Simpsons guest-starred Adam West with the Batmobile. Another episode featured the Batmobile in a museum of famous cars next to Herbie the Love Bug and a car from Mad Max. The latter episode featured a live Batman and Robin in the vehicle, who had both tried poorly to conceal the fact that they were not dummies.
- On an episode of The Man Show, a lucky guest won a ride in the Batmobile with Adam West in the "Wheel of Destiny" segment.
- The Lincoln Futura version of the Batmobile is seen in the movie The Benchwarmers, driven by Jon Lovitz.
- The Batmoblie appears as an Easter Egg in the video game King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne, accompanied by a version of the 1966 TV theme.
- In 2003, Adam West and Burt Ward reunited for a tongue-in-cheek telefilm titled Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt which combined dramatized recreations of the filming of the original series (with younger actors standing in for the stars), with modern day footage of West and Ward searching for a stolen Batmobile.
- In issue 9 of the comic series Justice (February 2007), Batman dons a suit of armor visually influenced by the original Batmobile from the TV series.
Animation
Superfriends
Original version
The Batmobile as seen in the early episodes of Super Friends was based on the Lincoln Futura design as seen on the live-action Batman TV series starring Adam West. The main difference with the Super Friends version was that the lines of the car were modified substaintially for use in animation. The most obvious change was to the nose of the car, where the hood received a "V" depression that echoed the lower fascia. This was also the first Batmobile (of any medium) to feature yellow bat emblems on the doors. This particular feature would be quickly adapted by the comics.
Second version
Beginning with the Challenge of the Super Friends format in 1978, the Batmobile got revamped. This new version was developed to have a more aerodynamic hard-edged style. In addition, this Batmobile was smaller than its predecessor. It contained a sloped nose and flying buttress B-pillars.
Features that were carried over from the original Super Friends Batmobile were the Bat-mask, low horizontal fins, twin bubble windshields, and blue coloring scheme.
Third version
In 1984, Super Friends revamped its format (first as Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and then as The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians) to serve as a tie-in to Kenner's Super Powers Collection. The Batmobile that was produced for the toyline allowed two figures to sit in it, had a battering ram grille, and trapping claw in the back.
In mid-1985, a special variation of the Super Powers Batmobile appeared in both Batman and Detective Comics. This design had a full set of front and rear canopies, "Coke-bottle" sides, integrated fins, and generally rounder features, just like the toy. The only difference between this car and its toy counterpart is the nose, which was occasionally drawn to appear longer and more pointed.
DC Animated Universe
The same year that the second live-action Batman movie, Batman Returns, was released, a new television series began. Batman: The Animated Series used a distinctive visual combination of film noir imagery and Art Deco designs with a very dark color scheme, with elements of the Fleisher Studios' Superman shorts and Japanese anime also incorporated. The show created an "otherworldly timelessness" by combining "vintage" design elements like police blimps and pre-World War II vehicle styles with modern components like jet propulsion and computers. The Batmobile for the series also combined style elements from various eras to produce a long, low vehicle with square lines, long fins, and a blunt nose with a massive chrome grill that could have been from any time from the 1930s to the 1990s. Despite the obvious presence of the jet exhaust, the show frequently used sound effects from a reciprocating engine for the Batmobile's driving scenes. This, plus direct views of the engine (as seen in the episode "The Mechanic"), suggest that the car used a large piston engine for primary power and an auxiliary jet for high-speed acceleration. Additonally, this Batmobile appeared in Justice League Unlimited. Batman Beyond also had a flying vehicle referred to as the Batmobile (in the show's future era, flying cars had become commonplace).
Features
Among the features of the Animated Series Batmobile were: smoke and oil dispensers, wheel slasher hubs, a missile rack, tear gas dispensers, ejection seats, titanium alloy wheels and body panels, and reversible jet exhausts. It also had a "shield" mode to prevent people from tampering with the car when it was left unattended, though it was not as overt as the "cocoon" used on the 1989 movie Batmobile. Despite the obvious presence of the jet exhaust, the show frequently used sound effects from a reciprocating engine for the Batmobile's driving scenes. While the Batmobile in the series has two seats inside, it is shown having only one seat in the film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.
The Batman
In the animated series The Batman, the Batmobile resembled a sports coupe with multiple jet exhaust slits protruding from the back bumper. In the third season episode "RPM", this Batmobile was wrecked beyond repair, and Batman completed a prototype design that included a Wayne Industries 'EXP' power generator. This Batmobile was longer and had a lower profile with only one triangular jet exhaust coming from the rear of the car. At the end of the episode, Batman remarks that due to the Batmobile EXP's success, it is a "keeper". In the fourth season, the episode Artifacts explores Gotham City in the year 2027, complete with a new tank-like Batmobile reminiscent of Frank Miller's design for the Batmobile in The Dark Knight Returns.
Batman: Gotham Knight
In the straight-to-DVD animated shorts collection Gotham Knight, the Batmobile makes an appearance in the feature entitled "Field Test". While set in the same continuity as Christopher Nolan's films, it is visually a pastiche of the Batmobile as it has appeared in various films. Also, the Batmobile appears in the feature entitled "Working Through Pain"; wherein Alfred arrives to pick up Batman. The Batmobile appearing in this scene seems to be inspired by its appearance in the 1989 live-action film.
Batman: The Brave and The Bold
The Batmobile on Batman: The Brave and the Bold takes design elements from the Golden Age Batmobiles and the Lincoln Futura. This Batmobile has the ability to morph into other vehicles The tie in toyline's Batmobile shares this gimmick, transforming from car to jet.
In the episode "Game Over for Owlman" Batman is forced to use a back-up Batmobile which resembles the 1944 Studebaker.
Live-action film
Burton films
Tim Burton's films Batman and Batman Returns presented a different version of the Batmobile. It reflected the environment of Burton's Art Deco Gotham City. It was huge, long, low and sleek, combining design elements from 1930s coupes like the Bugatti Type 57 and modern racing cars such as the Porsche 962 and was built on a Chevy Impala chassis.
In Batman, we first see the Batmobile when Batman comes to rescue Vicki Vale from the Joker and his henchmen outside of the Gotham Museum of Art. The two then escape in the Batmobile and Batman drives them to the Batcave, where he then gives the secret of the Joker's chemical combinations to Vicki. The Batmobile's next appearance is when Batman sends the car into Axis Chemicals on autodrive, and has it drop explosives inside, destroying the factory.
In Batman Returns, the Batmobile also had a secondary mode referred to as the "Batmissile", where the wheels would retract inward and the sides of the vehicle would break off, converting the car into a thin bullet train-like form capable of squeezing through tight alleyways. This comes after Batman is framed by the Penguin and Catwoman for kidnapping and murder. In the process, Batman finds himself trapped in the Batmobile under Penguin's control.
Technical specifications
- Length: 260.7 in
- Width: 94.4 in
- Height: 51.2 in
- Acceleration: 0-60 in 3.7 seconds
- Maximum Speed: 530 km/h with booster
- Engine: Jet Turbine
- Fuel: High octane; 97% special (gasoline paraffin mixture)
- Torque: 1750 lbf.ft at 98.7% ROS
- Wheelbase: 141.0 in
- Wheels: Cast alloy, 15 x 6.5
- Tires: High aspect L60-15
For quick maneuvers, this Batmobile had side-mounted grappling hook launchers and a central "foot" capable of lifting the car and rotating it 180°.
Features
Reputedly, every gadget seen on the Batmobile used in these films was fully functional, including the jet engine, which consumed fuel at such a high rate that there was only enough fuel capacity to run it for the approximately fifteen seconds of the longest shot in which the viewer can see it operating. Spherical bombs could be deployed from its sides. An afterburner was housed in the back. Two Browning machine guns were hidden behind flaps in each fender. Its Grappling hook, once hooked on a structure, serves as an anchor to allow the batmobile to make an extremely sharp turn at high speed that its pursuers typically cannot duplicate. It had superhydraulics for course changes, and a batdisc ejector (side-mounted) that could fire precisely 15 Batdiscs in the 1-second pulse. Other gadgets included chassis-mounted shinbreakers, oil slick dispensers and smoke emitters. Inside, the two-seat cockpit featured aircraft-like instrumentation, a passengers' side monitor, self-diagnostics system, CD recorder, and voice-command recognition system.
The Batmobile's "cocoon" is made up of ceramic fractal armor panels. They explode outward when struck by projectiles, deflecting injurious force away from the car and its occupants. If Batman has to exit the Batmobile for an extended period of time, he can, through a voice command (specifically, the phrase "Shields"), activate the Batmobile's cocoon system. This prevents people from tampering with the car while it is left unattended. Bulletproof and fireproof steel plates envelop the body and cockpit entirely. While this armor is in place, the vehicle cannot be driven. In Batman the cocoon was not a fully functioning shield. In reality, a life-size model was built and the cocoon animation was provided by stop motion technology. In Batman Returns the cocoon seen in Tim Burton's second Batman film, Batman Returns (1992), had the same characteristics as the previous one. However, the design was slimmer and the special effects were provided by computer-generated imagery.
Other appearances
- Replicas of the Tim Burton-era Batmobiles are on display in front of several Batman: The Ride roller coasters.
- Historic auto attractions in Roscoe, IL displays a replica Batmobile from Batman Returns as well as the "Bat Rocket" in addition to the Batmobile from the 1960s television series.
- A series of OnStar TV advertisements featured this particular Batmobile being equipped with the system. This which allowed Batman to call various Gotham characters, summon police, remotely unlock the vehicle's doors and find the nearest jet fuel station.
- This version of the Batmobile was later seen in the Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman episode called "Don't Tug on Superman's Cape", an episode which shows that some collectors had apparently stolen the Batmobile.
- In the movie Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Daffy Duck drives the Tim Burton version of the Batmobile into the water tower on the Warner Bros. studio lot, causing it to fall over and nearly crush Jenna Elfman's character.
- On the TV series Animaniacs, the Tim Burton version of the Batmobile approaches the WB studios front gates, the guard at the door greets the driver by saying "Good afternoon Mr. Keaton."
- Yet another Animaniacs cartoon features a parody of the poem 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. As the WB studios empty out for the Christmas break, the Tim Burton version of the Batmobile pulls up to the gate, and Ralph the Guard waves it through, saying, "Goodnight, Mr. Keaton, that's a lovely sedan."
- In a third Animaniacs appearance, Dot Warner's interpretation of a Puck soliloquy from A Midsummer Night's Dream renders the line, "And Robin shall make amends ere long" as "And the Boy Wonder will save us." The Tim Burton version of the Batmobile then drives up to the Warner siblings and opens its canopy; Robin pulls the trio into the car, which departs, saving them from an angry fairy.
- In the "RPM" episode of the animated series The Batman, one of Bruce Wayne's Batmobile prototypes is the Batmobile from the Tim Burton films.
Schumacher films
As the 1990s Batman films were handed over to director Joel Schumacher from Tim Burton, the design for the Batmobile became increasingly fanciful, as decorative lighting was added to the vehicle's rims, sides and front edge, and the wing-shaped fins reached further into the air. New abilities included a grappling hook allowing the Batmobile to drive up walls, as well as the speed to perform large jumps from surface to surface during chases across Gotham City's elevated freeways and gigantic statues.
The Batman Forever Batmobile's ability to drive up walls was displayed as Batman eludes a dead-end provided by Two-Face and his henchmen. Later on, we see Dick Grayson take the Batmobile for a joy ride, without Batman's permission or awareness. Finally, it was destroyed when the Riddler deposited a sack full of explosives in the cockpit. Batman Forever is also notable for the phrase uttered by Batman (portrayed by Val Kilmer) to Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman) "It's the car, right? Chicks love the car."
In Batman & Robin it is somewhat unclear as to whether or not this Batmobile was destroyed during the film (or whether or not there were backups). As Batman and Robin were in pursuit, Mr. Freeze shot the underside of the car for several seconds with his freeze-gun, before the car crash-landed. However, in the next scene in the Batcave, the Batmobile is sitting back on its pedestal appearing to be in perfect condition.
The design of the Batmobiles of the Schumacher films have garnered criticism for allegedly resembling giant phalluses.
Technical specifications
The Batman Forever Batmobile had a Chevy 350 ZZ3 high-performance motor. It had high compression, , aluminum heads, angled plugs and a good valve grind. The body is made from a high-temperature epoxy fiberglass laminate. All of the air was extracted though vacuum bagging. The wheel base is , the average car wheel base measures around 103 (USDOT Data 1980-2000) inches. In all, its size was 7.62 m long and 3.20 m in height. Carbon fiber was used to build the body of this particular Batmobile. Carbon fiber is the same material that's normally used for Formula One racing cars and F-16 jet fighters. The specfications for the Batmobile in this film:
- Length: 7.62 m
- Width: 94.4 in
- Height: 3.20 m
- Maximum Speed: 530 km/h with booster
- Engine: Off-road running engine
- Wheelbase: 118 in
- Tires: Pivotable
In Batman & Robin, the specifications are as follows:
- Length: 33 feet long; 10 meters long. The six flame columns formed a V-shaped output of 1,80 m length.
- Height: 1.5 m
- Maximum Speed: 230 mph on open road, 350 mph with afterburner thrust; TFX road tested the Batmobile at 140 mph. 350 km/h and the additional jet propulsion brings the cars to 530 km/h.
- Engine: Chevy 350 ZZ3 (off-road racing motor). Instead of a single jet exhaust, this Batmobile had a "boattail" rear flanked by separate fenders, each with three smaller exhaust nozzles.
- Axle Base: 388 m
- Tires: It rode on custom 22" wheels with prototype, 55 m GoodYear tires.
The aeronomical chassis design and "T" axis wheelbase provided the Batman & Robin Batmobile counter-balance gyrometric stability, allowing for high velocity 90-degree turns at speeds greater than 70 mph without losing momentum.
In Batman & Robin, the Caped Crusader also uses the "Bathammer" to battle Mr. Freeze and his henchmen through the frozen streets of Gotham City. The Bathammer can move over enormous skids underneath. It also carries vertical stabilizers (3 m long) that can be directed upward in an emergency and used as shield. The Bathammer is in essence, a Batmobile for travelling on large icy surfaces (e.g. a hockey rink). It is 33 feet long & 6 feet high. The top speed is 100 mph on ice. Initial plans had the Batmobile being able to transform into this vehicle, but such plans were abandoned and the designers came up with a unique vehicle.
Features
The Batman Forever Batmobile sought to accentuate its intricate lines. To do this, the filmmakers equipped it with engine panels, wheels, and undercarriage were indirectly lit so that they appeared to glow blue. The Batman Forever car also had a split cockpit canopy, separate fenders, and jet exhaust. The roof fin could be opened into a "V" shape for a more contemporary look. The wheels were made to keep the bat emblems upright when the wheels are turning. The bat-emblem hubcaps was a counter-rotating gear that transferred into a stationary point. The two-seat cockpit featured a rear-view monitor, system diagnostics display, and custom gauge cluster. H R Giger was chosen to design the Batmobile in the very early stages of production. He left due to creative differences. His designs are on his official website in illustrated and 3D Graphic Art form. There were two primary avoidance/defense features on the Batman Forever version.. First, it had the ability to lock all four wheels perpendicular to its centerline, to allow for quick sideways movement. Second, for more dire circumstances, the Batmobile could reroute the jet exhaust to under its front end and launch grappling cables at overhead anchors. With the nose up and the lines in place, the car could climb sheer vertical surfaces like building walls as if it were driving on flat ground.
The second Shumacher era Batmobile (as seen in the 1997 film Batman & Robin) also featured neither a passenger seat nor a canopy. Like the Batman Forever car, this Batmobile (which was designed by Harald Belker) featured light-up wheels and engine panels. The displays were much more involved with this car, however, with red, orange, yellow, and blue lights, as well as special pulsating lights in the counterrotating turbine intake. The nozzles were canted away from the centerline of the car slightly, so the final effect was that the six exhausts made a "V" pattern to keep the car pointed straight ahead. A bat mask was incorporated in the nose of the car, though the sculpted lines made it somewhat difficult to make out at first. The fins were unmistakable, though, and remain as the largest set ever built into a real-world Batmobile. On the Batman & Robin version the arsenal of weaponry and gadgets is controlled by an onboard voice-activated computer which surrounds the single-seat cockpit. From behind the wheel, the driver has access to a multifunctioning key command response system which delivers immediate weapon activation during attack and defensive procedures. The Batman & Robin Batmobile was equipped with dual-mount, subcarriage rocket launchers, front and rear grappling hooks, multipoint infrared and laser scan tracking units, anterior/posterior wheel-based axle bombs, catapult ejection seat, and disguised central carriage, which detaches to become an emergency road vehicle. The single-seat cockpit featured a two-way videoconferencing screen, radar unit, and Redbird communication switch.
Other appearances
- In the TV series The Drew Carey Show, Drew Carey won the Batman Forever Batmobile as a prize.
- In the cartoon Transformers: Cybertron, the Decepticon leader Megatron's vehicle mode looks similar to the Joel Schumacher version.
- In "Legends of the Dark Knight", an episode of The New Batman Adventures, three teenagers discuss their ideas about what Batman is really like. They briefly meet an effeminate youth called Joel (in front of a shoemakers shop, no less) whose idea of Batman consists mainly of a fascination with the tight rubber suits and a Batmobile that can drive up walls (as seen in Batman Forever). The other three children treat Joel's ideas with utter disdain.
Nolan films
The Batmobile depicted in the Christopher Nolan directed films Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008) owes more to the tank-like vehicle from Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns than to the sleek automobiles seen in previous incarnations. The vehicle does not have a front axle, a design that was influenced by the spinners featured in Director Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. The film's production designer described the machine as a cross between a Lamborghini and a Hummer. It is said to resemble a crouching bat, but in some ways resembles the F-117 Nighthawk.
In the 2005 movie, Bruce Wayne modifies a prototype military vehicle called "the Tumbler", and the vehicle is never referred to as the "Batmobile". Six vehicles were built for the production of the film. Two full-sized, driving versions were used in exterior shots. One full-sized model with hydraulic enhancements was used in jump sequences. One full-sized, functional version carried propane tanks to fuel the rocket blast out of the rear nozzle. A radio-controlled, 1/3-scale electric model also performed stunts in the film (e.g., the roof-top chase sequence). These scenes were filmed over 9 weeks, on a massive set built on a stage at Shepperton Studios.
The Batmobile returns in The Dark Knight, where it is damaged beyond repair by a rocket-propelled grenade; Batman ejects from the Batmobile in the Batpod (a motorcycle formed by the front wheels and struts of the Batmobile). Once ejected, Batman programs the Batmobile to self-destruct.
Technical specifications
- Length:
- Width:
- Weight:
- Acceleration: 0-60 in 5.6 seconds. Under full acceleration, the car could actually rise up on its front "legs" while the front wheels stayed planted on the ground creating an effect like a giant spider.
- Engine: 5.0 litre Vauxhall/GM engine capable of . The jet engine and vector controls could jump up to vertically.
- Fuel: The "jet engine" on the back of the car was fed by propane tanks.
- Tires: "Super swamper" tires standing tall (via titanium axles) in the rear and Hoosier dirt tires on the front.
Features
The Batman Begins Batmobile had a pair of autocannons mounted in the nose of the car between the front wheels. In "attack" mode, the driver's seat moved to the center of the car, and the driver is repositioned to lay face-down with his head in the center section between the front wheels. This served two main purposes: first, it provides more substantial protection with the driver shielded by multiple layers of armor plating. Second, the prone position reduces the risk of injury a driver faces when making extreme driving maneuvers. Other devices included:
- Rear flaps for brake
- Front autocannons
- Rocket launcher
- Landing hook to Sprung landing stabilization
- Integrated fire-extinguishing system
- Integrated safety connection to gasoline control
- Jet engine on back of car for quick boosts/rampless jumps
- Stealth mode, which turns off the car's lights and reduces the engine sound enormously, resulting in making the car very hard to find in dark places
- Caltrops are deployed from the rear of the vehicle. Batman uses this to immobolize a police vehicle following him.
- Front of car is heavily armored, so the car can crash into and destroy objects, and also protects the driver (Batman) while in the prone driving position/"Attack" mode
- Both front wheels can eject when the vehicle is damaged to form the Batpod, a bat-cycle like vehicle.
Production process
Nathan Crowley, one of the production designers for Batman Begins, started the process of designing the Tumbler for the film by model bashing. One of the parts that Crowley used to create the vehicle was the nose cone of a P-38 Lightning model to serve as the chassis for the car's jet engine. Six models of the Tumbler were built to 1:12 scale in the course of four months. Following the scale model creation, a crew of over 30 people, including Crowley and engineers Chris Culvert and Annie Smith, carved a full-size replica of the vehicle out of a large block of Styrofoam, which was a process that lasted two months.
The Styrofoam model was used to create a steel "test frame", which had to stand up to several standards: have a speed of over 100 mph, go from 0 to in 5 seconds, possess a steering system to make sharp turns at city corners, and to withstand a self-propelled launch of up to . On the very first jump test, the Tumbler's front end collapsed and had to be completely rebuilt. The basic configuration of the newly designed vehicle included a 5.7-liter Chevy V8 engine, a truck axle for the rear axle, front racing tires by Hoosier, rear 4x4 mud tires by Interco., and the suspension system of Baja racing trucks. The design and development process took nine months and cost several million dollars.
With the design process completed, four street-ready race cars were constructed, with each vehicle possessing 65 carbon fiber panels and costing $250,000 to build. Two of the four cars were specialized versions. One version was the flap version, which had hydraulics and flaps to detail the close-up shots where the vehicle propelled itself through the air. The other version was the jet version, in which an actual jet engine was mounted onto the vehicle, fueled by six propane tanks. Due to the poor visibility inside the vehicle by the driver, monitors were connected to cameras on the vehicle body. The professional drivers for the Tumblers practiced driving the vehicles for six months before they drove on the streets of Chicago for the film's scenes.
The interior was an immobile studio set and not actually the interior of a street-capable version. The cockpit was over-sized to fit cameras for scenes filmed in the Tumbler interior. In addition, another version of the car was a miniature model that was 1:5 scale of the full-sized one. This miniature model had an electric motor and was used to show it flying across ravines and between buildings. However, the actual race car was used for the waterfall sequence. The scale model scenes were filmed on a massive set built on a stage at Shepperton Studios in England over the course of nine weeks. The full-sized vehicles were driven and filmed on the streets of Chicago. In The Dark Knight, the Batpod ejects from the Tumbler, with the Tumbler's front wheels as the Batpod's wheels; this was rendered using computer-generated imagery.
See also
External links
p://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/batmobile.htm How the Batmobile Works]
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Super Friends
Batman: The Animated Series:Lego Batman
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