1966 - 1979
Batman
Base Car:
1955 Lincoln Futura
Color: Black exterior/Black interior
In 1955, the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company
designed and built a futuristic concept car called the Lincoln
Futura. It was built entirely by hand in Turin, Italy at a cost
of $250,000, and like many concept cars, was never put in to
production. In the mid 1960's, George Barris of Barris Kustom
City acquired the car for $1 directly from Ford.
Fast forward to August 1965, the "Batman" TV show producers
approached George to have him build a new Batmobile for their
upcoming show. The only catch was the car had to be ready for
action in a mere three weeks. Seeing the bat-like qualities his
Futura already had, George felt it was the perfect answer to the
quandary 20th Century Fox had created.
Three weeks later, in October of 1965, the Batmobile was born
and television history was made...
The Futura worked perfectly as a Batmobile, as it had many "bat"
features built into the design already, such as the long fins
and bubble canopies. According to Barris, he further enhanced
the theme by converting the nose into an integrated bat mask, a
first for the car. He also opened the wheel wells, and modified
the Futura's fins into subtle bat wings by extending their
leading edges into the doors and scalloping the trailing edges.
Once bodywork was complete, the car was painted gloss black with
red trim to accentuate the various lines of he car. Three
replicas were eventually built by Barris' shop, though only one
appeared on the show itself.
In 1979, the car briefly returned to the screen for the nearly
forgotten Legends of the Superheroes show. The Batmobile had
gone through several more changes in the years since Batman
ended. Most notably, the gloss black paint had been replaced
with a flat black flocking, dubbed the "bat fuzz." An array of
new and unidentfied gadgets had been added, as well as extra
antennas, placards, mirrors, a new seering wheel, and spoked
"Euro" wheels. The only subtraction from the car was the bat
logos, now absent from both doors.
Today, the #1 car has been returned to its gloss black finish,
though many of the extra gadgets remain in place. Along with its
enduring popularity, its influence continues in Batmobile
designs today and is considered by many to be the Batmobile.
1989 - 1992
Batman & Batman Returns
In the summer of 1989, Batman came to the big screen for the
first time since 1966. Thanks to the work of comic artists like
Frank Miller, the public was ready for a new, darker take on the
caped crusader. Warner Brothers had Tim Burton bring his unique
style to the movie, and Anton Furst was hired as production
designer for Gotham City and the Batmobile. He wanted the car to
be unlike any previous incarnation, a combination of brute force
and classic design aesthetics. To build the car, the production
team spliced together two Impala chassis, and the car was
powered by a Chevy V8. The body was a custom-built fabrication,
and the whole thing rides on a set of Mickey Thompson racing
tires on custom wheels.
1997
Batman & Robin was the fourth and final installment in the arc
that started in 1989 with Batman. Joel Schumacher once again
directed and Barbara Ling was still the production designer, but
the movie featured and all-new Batmobile. Ling felt that the
previous car did not have the screen presence she wanted, and
should appear larger than life in the movie. According to Ling,
the inspiration from the car came from older racing roadsters
like the Jaguar D Type and Delahaye 165; she specifically wanted
this car to be an open air car, as it was in the comics she read
years earlier. Working with effects company TFX, the new
Batmobile was about 30 feet long (one of the longest Batmobiles
in the entire history of the car, despite being a single-seater)
and road tested to 140MPH.
1943
The first live action Batman film was a serial produced by
Columbia in 1943. Like most other serials, these were low-budget
affairs that were run once a week, featuring "cliffhanger" type
endings to draw audiences back for the next installment. Lacking
the funding of later Batman projects, the "Batmobile" was simply
a factory-stock convertible.
For the 1943 serial, a 1939 Cadillac was used as both the
Batmobile and as Bruce Wayne's personal car. Generally the
position of the convertible top signified which the car was:
"top up" mean "Batmobile, while "top down" meant "Bruce Wayne's
car."
1949
Batman returned to live action for his second (and final) serial
run in 1949. Though it lacked any significant budget, most
elements of the Batman universe were retained: the costumes,
Wayne Manor, the Batcave, and a "Batmobile."
The Batmobile used for this serial was a factory-stock 1949
Mercury Convertible. Like in the 1943 serial, the same car also
happened to be Bruce Wayne's regular transportation; the only
difference was that the top was put up when it was in use as the
Batmobile. According to Johnny Duncan, the actor who played
Robin in the serial, they actually went through six cars during
filming. Though powerful, the Mercury was a very heavy car that
didn't corner all that well...so whenever they wrecked one, they
would just swap cars and continue shooting.
