ATOMIC BATTERIES TO POWER, TURBINES TO SPEED! The false cave wall opens, and out from behind hanging foliage races the Batmobile, with a quick jog to the right, then to the left, over the fold-down striped road barrier, and blasting down a dirt road past a sign that reads, “Gotham City 14 miles.” One of the most iconic cars from any TV show is the 1960s Batmobile built by famed car customizer George Barris (he also built the Munster Coach, the Beverly Hillbillies truck, and the Monkeemobile). The original Batmobile was built for the television show Batman and Robin in 1966 from a 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car that Barris had purchased for $1. After the series ended, Barris kept the Batmobile, but subsequently sold it at the 2013 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale collector car auction for $4.62 million.
Our feature recreation of the 1960s Batmobile was constructed for the owner in 2021. It rides on a modified 1992 Chevy Corvette chassis. Power comes from a 6.2-liter LS3 V8 backed by a 4L80 four-speed automatic transmission. It is finished in traditional Batmobile black with red trim and graphics over black vinyl upholstery. The cockpit features twin Plexiglas open bubble canopies to allow the Dynamic Duo easier entry and exit. The canopies are separated by an arching bar that is home to flashing lights and a bar for initiating a Bat Turn. At the rear of the Batmobile is a gas-fueled flame emitter (yes, it works), twin parachute bags, bat-wing tail fins, and a trio polished vertical stacks. On either door are stylized white-outlined red bats, and the five-spoke polished aluminum wheels are topped with the requisite Bat Spinners. Stopping duties are handled by four-wheel disc brakes.
Inside the Batmobile are two different screens for controlling the Holley fuel injection system and a touchscreen for the Power Acoustik infotainment system. Other features include black vinyl-upholstered bucket seats, CROW multi-point shoulder harnesses, a fire extinguisher with Bat logo, and prop items like a Bat Phone, Bat-Scope control panel, Bat-Ray protector (your guess is as good as mine), anti-theft activator, and homing receiver scope. The Batmobile wears an assigned VIN that seems to have come from the Corvette donor car.
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Comments
About 15 years ago at a stop light a Batmobile pulled up next to me. Talk about a double take!
Isn’t the steering wheel wrong?
Maybe it looks more like a bat that way🤷
Quite the boy Robin magnet.
I thought someone bought the original car driven by Adam West. It was purchased at an auction in Arizona in 2013 for 4.2 mil. Ford built a Lincoln Futura and George Barris built the Batmobile in 1955. The original car had orange trim not red trim. Jay Leno wasn’t the buyer. Leno buys everything else !
Later for Jay Leno…! 👎
Did you even read the article?
That’s a neat instrument panel but it’s not the one in the original Barris Batmobile.
Can this thing even be registered?
Yea that’s been modified. I agree!
It could be registered in Pa. A guy put a gas engine in a carnival bumper car and got it registered.
It has a VIN. It’s probably already registered under the name of its Corvette donor vehicle.
I’m sure Ford fans are hating this.
When I first moved to LA I used to pass by Barris on my way in to work at the Capitol Tower. Used to see the original ” Batmobile” sitting inside the showroom.
Used the see the penguin at A&M Records lot .
It’s a replica. Mr Barris wood come to San Antonio for Comic-Con and show off his Batmobile, he made three for the TV show and over the years sold off two of them & kept one. . I was happy just to sit in the one he wood show off… Keep in mind he created the first movie Batmobile also..
Pretty sure that’s one of Russ Martin’s batmobile replicas. Bossman had two, and the one he sold back in 2009 has traded hands a LOT since then.
This car was made in Logansport indiana my friend worked there they have made a few of this the owner of the company drives his around all the time he wears a batman costume
I liked the old Batman series with Adam West and Burt Ward. The only remake I liked was with Michael Keaton. Frank Gorshin did an excellent job playing; “ The Riddler “ in the 60s series.
I live in walla walla Washington and we have Adam west days every year. He was a crazy guy I have a customer here that he visited with when him and his wife came down. Also Robin would also come. But anyway Bernadette really has some good stories about him. But if you really liked batman you should come to Adam West days in walla walla Washington
William Belo, thanks for sharing that. I believe that Adam West Day was just celebrated September 9th of this year. It features the Batmobile and Batcopter. Good deal! I live in Augusta Georgia The home of The Masters Golf Tournament and James Brown and in a small town called Harlem Georgia they celebrate The Laurel and Hardy Festival in October. Oliver Hardy and his partner Stan Laurel were very famous comedians. You may remember them as “ Laurel and Hardy “.
You must be travelling in the Back to the Future DeLorean.