? ? ?The mysterious mode of transportation used by the Superheroes, Batman and Robin, ?practically flew out of the hidden entrance of their secret Bat Cave, racing the caped crusaders to their adventures all over Gotham City. ?Columbia Pictures made two Batman Superhero serials in the 1940's, but neither featured the now famous Batmobile, which was already ?familiar to the Superhero's comic book fans. In the serial, Batman and Robin drove a plain, unmarked car. It would be a whole 20 years later, before they would get the full Bat-treatment, when television introduced the colorful crime-fighting of the "Dynamic Duo" to a much wider audience. ?(See my articles on all the Batmobiles at http://GearheadDIVA.com.)
?? ? The character of Batman first appeared in May of 1939, in Detective Comics #27. ?Even though the first real Batmobile did not appear for another two years, it quickly became one of the Superhero's best known weapons. ?The Batmobile debuted in Batman #5, then made it's first comic cover appearance in Batman #20. ?Because of different
?? ? BAT-FACTS: The Batmobile was difficult to drive and rarely went faster than 25 mph, claims Adam West, 81, original supra tk society navy actor who portrayed Batman in the TV series. ?The car was ?big and unbalanced, making for difficult steering and poor suspension...and the brakes failed far too often. ?"So poor Burt Ward, who played Robin, sitting beside me, was always white knuckled," West said. ?"It's probably the world's most famous car, and it's so beautifully designed for film," West added, "but when you have to drive in it on a daily basis, it's hard to push it over 30 mph because then they can't photograph it the way the want to. They make it look like it's going faster."
?? ? BAT-GADGETS: ?The Batmobile sported a car phone long before cell phones existed. ?"It was a car ahead of its time," West proclaims. "We also had the first navigation system and the first system that enabled us to make a 180-degree turn at a high speed. ?They were mostly props...but the flame out of the back of the supra tk society navy car worked. The parachute actually did come out. ?I had several bruises on my shins getting in and out of the car, trying to look heroic." ?More fun Batmobile gadgets were radar, on board computer and a rear camera.
?? ? In 1955, the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company designed and built a unique, ?experimental, concept car called the Lincoln Ford Futura. ?(It previously appeared ?on-screen in the Glenn Ford/Debbie Reynolds comedy film, 'It Started With A Kiss' in 1959.) ?The futuristic looking vehicle was built entirely by hand in Turin, Italy, costing a whopping $250,000. (At the time, that was a, um...BOATLOAD of money!) ?As is the nature of concept cars, the Futura was never put into production. ?
?? ? In the mid 1960's, George Barris of Barris Kustom City acquired the car for $1 directly from Ford. ?Motion picture and television had proved to be an outlet for Barris Kustom Industries as far back as the first episode of Jack Webb's Dragnet in 1952. By far the most well known television car remains the original Batmobile, which debuted in the first episode of Batman in 1966... before both Batman and Robin. ?In mid Sept. of 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 only three weeks. ?Seeing the bat-like qualities of his Futura, such as the long fins and bubble canopies, George felt it was a perfect fit for the 20th Century Fox's new caped crusaders.
The Batmobile on the set of the TV show, 1966
?? ? "The Futura was built way back in the Fifties," Barris recalls today, "It's not a production car. The Futura was the product of designer William Schmidt and the car was released to me when I was with the Ford Custom Caravan. I would take these experimental cars that come from the division and use them for film work In this case, I wanted to use the Futura because it already had the double bubbles (bubble canopies). All I had to do was remove a part of the central section and keep the fore and aft. Then I put in the arches, lights and everything else. Using the Futura enabled me to save a lot of time and I only had three weeks to build the car!''?
?? ? According to Barris, he further enhanced the theme by converting the nose into an integrated bat mask, opening the wheel wells, and modifying fins into bat wings by extending their leading edges into the doors and scalloping the trailing edges. Other work on the car included extending the drive train eleven inches to compensate for the specially sculpted 23 foot aerodynamic' body, The engine is a moon-equipt 429 racing Ford, with dual Granitelli Paxton super chargers and nitro oxide thrust control. It also has a hydro-trans mounted into a locked positraction rear end. ?Once the car's bodywork was complete, it was painted gloss black with red trim to accentuate it's body lines.
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