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Batmobile
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The Batmobile is the fictional personal automobile of comic book superhero Batman. The car has followed the evolution of the character from comic books to television to films.
Technical descriptionThe standard features of the vehicle include a chassis with heavy armor plating and a high performance engine, sometimes with rocket boosters for increased speed, special devices to improve maneuverability, and mounted weapons to disable vehicles and remove obstacles. In addition, the vehicle typically carries a computer that is remotely linked to the Batcave's main computer, a remote control function, a field forensic kit and a personal small helicopter held in the trunk called a whirlybat.
The vehicle has changed frequently over the decades. In the early stages of Batman's career, he modified a sedan, with armor, technologically advanced automotive customization, and has turned the Batmobile into the sleek street machine he currently drives.
The Batmobile is also frequently referred to as being powered by nuclear generation of electricity, both by Robin in a launch checklist from the 1966 television show ("Atomic batteries to power. Turbines to speed!"), and by The Penguin in Batman Returns, where one of his schemes to kill Batman is to turn the Batmobile into "a H-bomb on wheels."
Early historyThe vehicle that became the Batmobile was introduced in Detective Comics issue #27, the first Batman story, and received its name in Detective Comics issue #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 #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.
1966 TV BatmobileMain article: 1966 TV series Batmobile
Although vehicles for the Batman films have been custom built for the purpose, perhaps the most famous Batmobile, the one from the 1966-1968 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 deliver, 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.
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 1965-1966 Ford Galaxie. Barris has retained ownership of the original TV car, which is currently on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California. The three Barris copies all reside in private collections.
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.
Later history
Later versions of the famed Batmobile would be built off the stretched-out platforms of other cars, such as the Chevrolet Caprice and Buick Riviera. This style was used in the two Batman films directed by Tim Burton. 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 15 seconds of the longest shot in which you can see it operating. This version of the Batmobile was later seen in the episode called "Don't Tug On Superman's Cape," an episode which shows that some collectors had apparently stolen the Batmobile. (This may have been an attempt to explain why a different Batmobile is shown in Batman Forever.)
This long, sleek design was later adapted for , wherein the vehicle was a long, low machine inspired by the art deco design style of the film series. As the 1990s Batman films were handed over to director Joel Schumacher, the design for the Batmobile became increasingly implausible, as decorative lighting was added to the vehicle's rims and front edge, and the wing-shaped fins reached further into the air. Batman Forever was originally supposed to have a Batmobile designed by famed designer H. R. Giger, but Giger backed out of the project when Warner Brothers rejected his design.
In , 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.
The animated series Batman Beyond had a flying vehicle referred to as the Batmobile (in the show's future era, flying cars had become commonplace).
In the 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 , 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.
A collection of original Batmobiles are on display at the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum located in Keswick, northern England. A Batmobile from Batman Forever can also been seen on the Warner Bros. VIP Studio Tour. Replicas of the Tim Burton-era Batmobiles are on display in front of several roller coasters. An original Batmobile from these films can be found at Warner Bros. Movie World, on the Gold Coast Australia, along with at least one of every other Batmobile, and the Batboat from Batman Forever.
The Batman (animated series)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 .
Batmobiles in other media
External links
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