The History of the 1966 Batmobile Revealed
Greetings Batman freaks and geeks, I found a cool article on the true history of the 1966 Batmobile from the Consumer Guide Automotive blog. The article was written by Jack Stewart. (yes that is yours truly in the ’66 Batmobile, the photo was taken at WizardWorld St. Louis 2014). According to the article the design for the Batmobile in this case was not created by Bruce Wayne or by Wayne Enterprises, nor was it designed by the crew of Batman the TV series. It is in reality under the nifty Bat themed paint job, a Lincoln Futura.
"A true child of the Fifties, Futura had jetfighter-inspired styling, with fins and a Plexiglas canopy. Even though the Plexiglas roof panels of the 1954-55 Ford Skyliner and Mercury Sun Valley had baked their occupants, stylists still believed that bubble-top cars were the future. Ghia coachbuilders of Italy turned Lincoln’s design into metal. Unlike some show cars that have to be pushed on stage, the Futura actually ran."
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"In 1965, Barris received a request from Twentieth Century-Fox to construct a car for the Batman pilot to be delivered yesterday. Luckily for Barris, he had a car with bat-like styling deteriorating nearby. With some sheet-metal modification, along with the addition of “bat” equipment, the Futura was reborn as the Batmobile. The center section of the Plexiglas canopy was removed to ease filming of Batman and Robin and also save the actors from heat stroke."
Read the full article on the ’66 Batmobile and the Lincoln Futura, here. The ’66 Batmobile, the original Batmobile as far as real running cars, is one that I think all Batman fans love. George Barris still owns the original Batmobile, the one used in the show. He is now 87 years old and as far as I know has no intention of selling it. He did however, create five fiberglass replicas when the series finished filming, and now of course there are copies of it everywhere.
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