Original Batmobile gets sold for US$4.62 million
We’ve never talked about television or movies on this blog because it is a car technology focused blog, however one cannot avoid or neglect the importance of cars in the realm of visual entertainment. Whether we’re talking about particular characters and particular models or special concept vehicles, cars are an important part of film and television, and recently one such important part of history has been sold.
We are talking about the original 1966 Batmobile from the one and only live action Batman television series that starred Adam West. The Batmobile 1, the first vehicle – because there were several made for the series – has just been sold for the first time for the whopping sum of US$4.62 million.
The car was put up for sale by none other than the car’s creator – George Barris – who has also been the car’s owner for the past couple of decades. The vehicle was built around a 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car which was originally created by the Ford motor Company and unveiled at the 1955 Chicago auto show.
Barris had only fifteen days and a budget of $15,000 at his disposal to complete the task of creating a Batmobile for the new television series and he decided that the Lincoln Futura concept would make a great vehicle for the caped crusader.
The Batmobile features a 1956 6.4-litre Lincoln V8 engine alongside a B&M Hydro Automatic transmission – as far as the traditional features go – and a slew of bat-gadgets such as: the Batphone, remote Batcomputer, Batsmoke, Batscope and a couple more. Sufficient to say, it’s something that only true Batman fanatics would truly cherish.
However, despite this one cannot deny that the 1966 Batmobile became part of Hollywood history, and vehicle history in general, becoming an icon that carried into future generations of Batmobiles.