Which Batmobile Would Bruce Wayne Buy?
RM Sotheby’s will auction off two Batmobile replicas, but only one would meet the Dark Knight’s standards.
There are few “Hollywood cars” that can rival the original Batmobile. Of all of George Barris’ creations, the Lincoln-based roadster piloted by Adam West in the early Batman television show is arguably his most famous and in the grand scheme of things, only a handful of cars can truly challenge the Batmobile in terms of recognition, even decades after the show went off of the air.
The popularity of the Batman television program and the black-and-red custom Lincoln has led a great many people to create replicas of Bruce Wayne’s crime-fighting convertible. Over the next few months, RM Sotheby’s will auction off two replicas of the original Batmobile–a 1966 Batmobile Recreation by Hollywood Cars and a 1966 Batmobile Replica By Batrodz–but only one would be able to meet the demands of the eccentric millionaire-turned-crime-fighting caped crusader.
Custom Lincolns for Sale
RM Sotheby’s will auction off two classic Lincolns that were transformed into original 1966 Batmobile replicas. The first is based on a 1959 Lincoln and it will hit the block on Saturday, December 8, 2018 at the Peterson Automotive Museum Collection Auction. The second is built on the chassis of a 1977 Lincoln and it will head to auction in late March of 2019 at the company’s Fort Lauderdale event.
Both cars have gorgeous, intricately crafted exteriors that look just like the original, but if Batman was buying this car to fight crime, only one would suffice.
1959 Lincoln Batmobile
First up, we have the 1966 Batmobile built on a 1959 Lincoln chassis. This car has an elaborate history and was built by Jay Orhrberg of Hollywood Cars and it has spent years in collections after touring the United States. It is powered by a Lincoln V8 that appears to be a 341-cubic inch Y-Block engine, which would have offered somewhere in the area of 225 horsepower, not counting the rocket thrusters mounted in the custom tail (above).
On the inside, this custom Lincoln is incredibly clean. In fact, it is too clean. There are no switches or instruments with gaudy labels. The ad says that there is a Bat Phone, but it isn’t shown in pictures and neither are the Detect-A-Scape radar screen, the Bat Scope controls or any of the switches for the custom weapons. While Batman is awesome, his gadgets are a big part of his crime-fighting capabilities, so we don’t see any way how he could make do with this car.
Perhaps this could be Bruce Wayne’s weekend car for when he is wooing the ladies, but there is no way that this Plain Jane interior would ever meet the Dark Knight’s needs.
Which Batmobile Would Bruce Wayne Buy? continued…
