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For the ultimate 411 on the original Batmobile, look no further than John Rosa's mammoth Futura/Batmobile fan site. This labor of love features almost every fact, photo, and blueprint available on Batman's retro chic ride. The original Batmobile was based on the 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car, a $250,000 "car of the future" that made a splash at car shows for a couple of years and appeared on a few TV shows before falling into obscurity. In the fateful fall of 1966, custom car designer George Barris was enlisted to come up with a Batmobile in three weeks. "The art director brought in an idea of
what they needed: flashing lights, turbine fire blower on the back, chain slicer, etc.," said Barris. "We gave them a twentieth-century Batmobile that was different from Bob Kane's [the creator of Batman]." Barris retrofitted the Lincoln Futura (which he eventually wound up purchasing from Ford Motor Company for one dollar) with a snazzy new paint job, enormous fins, an aircraft steering wheel, and some completely peripheral but very cool looking air vents. A masterpiece was born.
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