BATMOBILE FROM BATMAN TELEVISION SERIES (1966) – DRIVEN BY ADAM WEST
Specs:
Engine – 429 Ford Full Race engine
Weight – 5500 lbs
Width: 6 feet x 8 in
Height: 4 feet x 11 in
Length: 18 feet x 8 in
On-Screen Gadgetry and Weapons:
Batphone
Batscope
Bat-turn lever, which pops the bat-chutes
Chain-slicer or Bat-ram
Bat-computer
Batray reactors and laser beams
Bat smoke screen
Originally a 1955 Ford Lincoln Futura concept car that cost $250,000, George Barris bought the car for $1 and had three weeks to transform it into Batman’s ride.
The final paint job consisted of 40 coats of super gloss black.
BATMOBILE FROM BATMAN (1989) AND BATMAN RETURNS (1992) – DRIVEN BY MICHAEL KEATON
Specs:
0 to 60 MPH – 3.7 seconds
Width: 7 foot x 7 in
Height: 4 feet x 8 in
Length: 20 feet
On-Screen Gadgetry and Weapons:
Grappling hook for high-speed turns
Twin Browning submachine guns that rise from the body of the Batmobile
Grenades deployed from the center of the wheels
Full body armor that is bulletproof and fireproof
Bat-disc launchers capable of taking out enemies on either side of the Batmobile
Hydraulic lift for u-turns in tight places
Voice Command recognition
Oil slick dispensers
Smoke dispensers
Production designer Anton Furst was inspired by Salt Flat racing vehicles and Stingray cars of the 1950s for his version of the Batmobile.
The vehicle can jettison the bodywork to form the Bat-Missle, narrowing the vehicle down to just the cockpit and turbine engine for quick escapes.
BATMOBILE FROM BATMAN FOREVER (1995) – DRIVEN BY VAL KILMER
Specs:
Engine: Chevy 380
Width: 7 feet x 9 in
Height: 7 feet x 3 in
Length: 25 feet
On-Screen Gadgetry and Weapons:
Independent rear suspension
Fenders and fins to create a Bat wing or Batman’s cape effect
Illuminated hub caps that stayed static while the car was in motion so that Bat symbol would always be seen up-right.
Blue LEDs and alternating red and yellow lights for the side ribs to give it a look like it was breathing.
The full-scale vehicle was powered by a 25-gallon propane tank. When it was fired at full capacity, it could shoot a 25-foot flame out of the rear exhaust.
Production designer Barbara Ling wanted the Batmobile to look like an organic machine always in motion. Thus the fin design’s structure mirrored a real bat’s wing.
BATMOBILE FROM BATMAN & ROBIN (1997) – DRIVEN BY GEORGE CLOONEY
Specs:
Width: 7 feet x 6 in
Height: 5 feet x 8 in
Length: 38 feet x 8 in
On-Screen Gadgetry and Weapons:
Onboard Voice-Activated Computer
Dual-mount sub carriage rocket launchers
Front and rear grappling hooks
Multipoint infrared and laser scan tracking units
Anterior/posterior wheel-based axle bombs
Catapult ejection seat
The only film version of the Batmobile that was a single-seat convertible.
The first design of this Batmobile resembled a bullet and had enormous wings emerging from the rear of the vehicle upon start up and retracting when the vehicle would come to a full stop.
TUMBLERS FROM BATMAN BEGINS (2005), THE DARK KNIGHT (2008) AND THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012) – DRIVEN BY CHRISTIAN BALE
Specs:
Front tires: Axel-less front end with Hoosier racing tires (also used on the Batpod)
Rear tires: Super Swampers
Width: 9 foot x 2 in
Height: 4 foot x 11 in
Length: 15 foot x 2 in
On-Screen Gadgetry and Weapons:
Armor plating
Attack mode, which transports Batman to the center of the vehicle for better maneuverability
Silent Mode allows Batman to switch to electric power and navigate via night vision. Typically used to evade both enemies and police.
Auto cannons
Caltrops, which were rope mines released to explode behind the Batmobile and disable pursuing vehicles.
This incarnation of the vehicle is the only one that has ever been named something other than a Batmobile, i.e. the Tumbler.
The creation of the Tumbler first started when production designer Nathan Crowley and director Christopher Nolan bought a bunch of model kits and “kit-bashed” until they came up with a hybrid of a Humvee and Lamborghini.