Despite loving Tim Burton’s Batman movies, and, equally, Christopher Nolan’s more recent journey to the dark side (we won’t mention Joel Schumacher’s mid-Nineties abominations – well, we just did, but only to flag up their ineptness), we’ve always had a soft spot for the colourful Sixties TV series.
A superhero played as high farce we especially remember the cartoon biff-pang-pow graphics and that episode when Batman is trying to dispose of a ticking bomb at the docks. Oh, how we laughed. And what about that rubber shark? Marvellous memories.
And those halcyon TV memories have come flooding back following the manufacture of replica Batmobiles from that series. The cars, produced by a US company, go for the princely sum of £120,000, but for that you get rocket exhaust flame throwers, custom leather seats, push-button ignition, working lights and a brand new GM350 crate engine to power the fibreglass body.
The car is also awash with gadgets aplenty: opening roll-top dashboard doors, a flashing red beacon, an automatic Batbeam antenna grid and a glowing Detect-a-Scope radar screen.
And if all that sounds a bit gimmicky, you also get state-of-the-art, 21st Century technological prowess in the form of a six-speaker sound system, a DVD player and electric actuators that operate the bonnet and boot. So what you waiting for? Unleash your inner Bruce Wayne and bring along a youthful ward for the ride.
To buy, or just have a gander at more pics, head to www.firebox.com
