15 interesting facts about the Batmobile

From its DC Comics origins with ‘the Bat-Man’, to the cheeseball 1960s TV series that brought crimefighting pals Batman and Robin into our lounge rooms, and the last 30 years of cinematic gothic noir-action, the Batmobile is iconic. But there’s more to Batman’s wheels than what you’ve seen on screen or page. Here are a bunch of classic, behind-the-scenes stories that you’ve probably never heard before.

It’s the most recognisable pop-culture car of all time but when we think ‘Batmobile’ we probably picture only one version: our fave. Whether it’s the Tumbler from the 2000s or the classic from the 1960s TV show, or even the mid 90s versions that screamed ‘Holy smokes, Robin. I’m having a midlife crisis!’, there have been so many Batmobiles over the years it’s hard to keep track. It’s an icon that has changed with the mood of the time. It’s history includes everything from conventional 1949 Mercurys and Cadillacs to tank-like contraptions and something that looked more like a train. The Batmobile has forever morphed.

Before it was known as the Batmobile, it was just a red car that Batman got around in. It didn’t even have its ‘Batmobile’ moniker until later. A red, but speedy looking, car first premiered in the inaugural appearance of the “Bat-Man” in Detective Comics #27, released in May 1939, a year before Batman #1. It lacked bat wings, but it did look sporty. Batman’s unofficial ally in crime-fighting, Commissioner Gordon, remarked in this episode, “Bruce Wayne is a nice young chap – but he certainly must lead a boring life... seems disinterested in everything.” The eponymous Batmobile came later on in Detective Comics #48 and Batman’s choice of wheels probably didn’t change Gordon’s mind – it wasn’t anything particularly ‘batty’ until issue #5 of Batman which featured an intimidating bat head and scalloped fins.

Serious. Powerful. Aggressive. Only ever dresses in black. This is how you’d describe the personality of the batmobile. While it might not be sentient and alive like Herbie The Love Bug, a District Court in a copyright case in the USA has ruled that the Batmobile is “a character” capable of copyright protection, which rendered defendant Mark Towle’s Batmobile copies infringements.

Which steel-and-rubber Batmobile was the first? It depends on how you interpret history. In the early 1960s, a 23-year-old guy called Forrest (Robinson, not Gump) turned a 1956 Oldsmobile into a radical, finned fibreglass Batmobile years before the TV show car was created by a guy called George Barris. Shortly after the young man made the car, Forrest went overseas with the army and upon return in 1966, Batman was a big deal. His creation was subsequently licensed by DC Comics as a promotional vehicle, making it kinda official.

George Barris, a hot-rodder who used to street race the coastal roads of California, is no slouch when it comes to building iconic cars. KITT from Knight Rider. The Munster Koach. The Hirohata Merc. The daggy wood-panelled stationwagon from the National Lampoon’s flicks. You can include all these in his list of famous car creations, but be sure to add the original Batmobile from the long-running TV series.

Based on a 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car, which George bought for $1 from the Ford Motor Company because it couldn’t be registered on the road, George created the long-loved Batmobile from the TV series. With the script in mind (all the “pow”, “wow” and “bang”) George spent two weeks and $15,000 creating a car he wanted to become more than an accessory but a character in its own right. Sure, it came after Forrest’s ingenious DIY version,  but it’s the first steel-and-rubber version to feature in an official Batman TV program.

One of the George Barris Batmobiles still in the possession of George himself sold in January 2013 for $4.2 million. “Pleased with the sale,” is what George reportedly said. Talk about making money – if only we could all make our own pop-culture icons.

The jet engine turbine on the Barris version is nothing more than 5 gallon paint can seamlessly incorporated into the car’s bodywork

Pop! Pow! Whoosh! Not mere special effect, CGI trick of the lens, the 60s-built machine has fully functional parachutes that shoot out of its rear end. Fun fact:
While details on this are hazy, like much of the ’60s for many people, but the word is that George was out hooning down the highway in the Batmobile when he decided to pop the parachutes. That fact is not disputed, and Barris himself has talked about it in interviews. What is contentious is whether the police officer gave him a ticket or had a laugh, muttered ‘just another day in Hollywood,’ and waved him on.

In the tradition that George Harris started when he desired his vehicular creation to be more a character than a prop, Tim Burton, director of the 1989 Batman wanted the Batmobile to seem alive. His answer: he insisted the designers incorporate a touch of green into the black paint.

The Anton Furst design was hand-sculpted and imperfect – the rear fins aren’t even. At around 90mph, which the car is capable of, the Batmobile starts to wobble due to dodgy aerodynamics. The shape from the film was was scanned to make the toy versions, so they too have wonky fins.

Despite the title of the film suggesting the two are a formidable duo who work happily together, Batman and Robin (1997), with George Clooney and Chris O’Donnell, features a single-seat Batmobile. Robin has gotta walk, cling to the roof or ride a motorcycle. What a way to treat a lifelong pal, huh?

In the Christian Bale era of bat films,  Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), the Batmobile isn’t called the Batmobile at all. This amalgam of a Lamborghini and a Humvee is called the Tumbler, a totally capable machine. What you see the Tumbler do in the films is real. No CGI. It was created in collaboration with an aviation company and would regularly hit over 160m/h during filming. It was also so loud that people had to wear ear protection during filming.

No kidding. A US ventriloquist comedian named Jeff Dunham has a road-registered Batmobile. He restored a Michael Keaton-era Batmobile prop, which is made of plywood and fibreglass, with a Corvette engine and roadworthy indicators and so much more. To the tune of $500,000, in fact. He regularly rocks up to car shows in it and blows people’s minds.

At one point during the filming of Batman Begins, a drunk driver somehow drove his way onto the set and smashed into the Batmobile. The drunk man’s excuse: he thought it was an alien craft and he panicked. While Robin (Chris O’Donnell) in Batman Forever doesn’t have an equal excuse for having his own fender bender, he’s just crap at driving the Batmobile. That’s probably why it’s not called the ‘Robinmobile’.

Joker, with Joaquin Phoenix as the lead, is due for release sometime in 2019, and super DC nerds have been obsessively waiting for any leak, video or photo out of Hollywood. The latest reports suggest that the original Barris Batmobile from the TV show might make a reappearance. Stay tuned!

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