Got $5 million? If you're loaded and are a real Batman aficionado, then the 1960's classic Batmobile can wind up in your garage. The famous black car with fluorescent orange trim and exaggerated superhero body moldings is being auctioned off Saturday, January 19, at the famed Barrett-Jackson auction house in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The popular TV show whose stars Batman, played by actor Adam West, and sidekick Robin, portrayed by Burt Ward, zoomed across the small screens in the Batmobile for nearly three seasons starting in 1966, is now considered a cult classic. Since Batman seemed to develop quite a following after it actually went off the air, the vehicle is expected to fetch as much as $5 million at the car-a-palooza of auto collecting.
The Batmobile is actually a Lincoln Futura concept car that was created in 1955. When the decision was made that it be used for the series, it took a reported three weeks to customize it into the crime-fighting vehicle at a cost of $30,000. The estimated value of the car at the time of the customization was $125,000.
During the filming of the Batman series, the Batmobile kept conking out with a real slew of problems. The car would overheat, the tires constantly wound up blowing out, batteries kept dying, the engine conked out mid-season and so did the transmission.
Throughout the years there have been other Batmobiles which were fiberglass copies of the original but the one being auctioned off this weekend is the real deal.
There is speculation that those interested parties who are expected to bid on the Batmobile could very well be an institution like a museum, or film company linked to the Batman franchise.
For more info about the Batmobile auction: www.barrett-jackson.com
Time will tell, same bat time, same bat channel!
--Car Chick
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