Gotham’s Dark Knight Gets a New Ride
The internet is savoring the latest crumb of news over The Batman movie, set to premiere in June 25, 2021. This time it’s the first look at the new Batmobile. Film director Matt Reeve’s posted 3 photos of the hero-car on Twitter this week. You see the car alongside Robert Patterson dressed in full Gotham’s savior attire. The Batmoblie looks aggressive, sinister, and much smaller than recent adaptations.
No longer is the Batmobile a duck-beaked rocket car or bridge jumping tank. This new billionaire hot-rod looks like a heavily modified, mid-engine, sports car. I see hints of De Tomaso Pantera, Alfa Romeo Montreal, Lamborghini Miura, and classic Dodge Charger in this design. A rather large V8 rests in the back of this thing with the business end of either a turbine or rocket booster exhaust. Nobody knows anything about what this latest Batman movie will be about except that it will take place sometime in the 1990’s.
This new vigilante whip has stirred the interest of car-nerds everywhere as they try to guess what this Batmobile was built on. What was this car before the customized it? What it’s a production car? A kit car or maybe something built from scratch? Only time, or a leak, will tell. My money is on a 1968-1970 Dodge Charger. If I’m right then Batman will join Dom Toretto, Blade, and Ghost Rider as anti-heroes who drive a classic black Dodge Charger.
Batmobile #1
Those who criticize this car may forget that Batmobile #1 was a Lincoln. That car was actually a 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car that was sold to legendary car-builder George Barris for $1.00 in 1965. It took 3 weeks, and $30,000 dollars, to transform the once Autorama show queen into a crime fighting icon. The steering wheel was out of a 1958 Ford Edsel after Adam West complained that the U-shaped wheel made it difficult to steer.
Fun fact, the jet turbine exhaust in the back of this car was actually a customized 5-gallon paint can created by Ricahrd “Korky” Korkes. That’s Hollywood.
Jesus Behind the Wheel 