So, what's a used Batmobile worth these days? How about 4.2 million dollars, actually, 4.62 million with buyer's premium added. In a made for TV moment, the Batmobile from the 1966-1968 television series thrilled a raucous, jam packed crowd in Scottsdale at the Barrett-Jackson auction, selling to a local businessman in memorable fashion.
The bidding opened at $100,000 and climbed to $2,000,000 within 40 seconds. The fever pitch in the room escalated rapidly as the bids continued to rise. The crowd surge made it difficult for auctioneer Spanky Assiter to see the bidders but in the end, justice prevailed as the iconic vehicle sold to high bidder, Rick Champagne. "I came with the intention of buying the car", Champagne stated after the auction. "That was a dream come true."
Many in the media dismissed the Batmobile as over-hyped and placed their pre-auction value estimates at several hundred thousand dollars. This was one of those instances where the event did live up to the hype. Barrett-Jackson did a wonderful job of building incredible anticipation to an spectacular finish.
The video captures all of the excitement from start to finish if you happened to miss it live.
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