Old Black Batmobile (group 6)

Title	Old Black Batmobile (group 6)
Subject	Vintage Batman- N° 529 Aurora Batmobile
Description	Batman has been in the market since 1939. This fictional hero, known as the Dark Knight, is a vigilante crime fighter, whose strategy is to sow fear into the heart of criminals as the creature of the night. Besides of persevering when facing overwhelming situations, original costumes, a dual identity, antagonist characters that comes within the story like Penguin, Catwoman, Riddler, and his arch-nemesis, the Joker, a peculiar feature that makes him stand out is the cool vehicle he owns, the Batmobile. The Batmobile is one of the most iconic vehicles known in popular culture. This artifact has been an essential detail for Batman´s stories. Throughout Batman´s history, the hero and the villains have evolved and have been forced to adapt to specific circumstances, and of course, the vehicle could not be left behind. The Batmobile first appearance occurred in Detective Comics #27 in 1939. It was a modest, red vehicle that allowed Batman move from point A to point B. Several years later, in 1966, Batman TV series hired George Barris to build a Batmobile for the show. Mr. Barris based his design on the Ford Motor Company's 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car. The Futura was the perfect fit for a Batmobile because the design already included long fins and bubble canopies, characteristics that go well along with the bat theme. In order to improve its appearance, Mr. Barris opened the wheel wells and modified the Futura´s fins into subtle bat wings by extending their leading edges into the doors and scalloping the trailing edges. Once all the modifications were made, the vehicle was painted dark black with red streamlines around the car. The amazing exterior design also included a Batman mask painted on the hood. In addition, the vehicle came along with cool gadgets like an atomic turbine engine, a nose-mounted chain slicer, lasers, rockets, onboard telephone, radar, computer, and police speaker. Another outstanding characteristic of this model was that it could make a quick 180° “bat turn” due to two parachutes that were placed in the back of the car. For this reason, the model served as inspiration for the Batmobile car N°529 toy, manufactured by Simms Inc. Since its origin in 1939, Batman has appeared in movies, comic books, animation, and TV shows. Throughout history, the audience has evidenced the evolution of Batman, the villains, and of course the Batmobile. The Batmobile designs mix the reality of car industry and at the same time gives a futuristic idea of what cars could become. This item is the result of combining creativity and necessity; the first designing unique styles of cars for different eras, each equipped with different weapons and protection systems that helped Batman fight against crime; and the second, when the hero needed a fast way to get from point A to point B in order to catch the villains or safe innocent citizens, the Batmobile has been the perfect fit. It is fair to say that each artist or director has changed the vehicle according to its interpretation, adding or removing gadgets, changing perhaps the exterior design, but overall they have kept in mind the dark black color which goes along with the Dark Knight's costume, the supercharged engine, which facilitates the change in speed and direction; protective mechanisms to keep Batman safe and a wide variety of gadgets and weapons that increased Batman's success rates. This means that since Batman is a superhero without powers, the Batmobile plays a powerful role because not only provides tools to our hero, but it also is a weapon itself. By Monica Florez
Creator	Simms Inc.
Source	Batman
Date	1966
Contributor	Essma Kheiry
Format	image/jpeg
Identifier	https://digitalgallery.bgsu.edu/student/items/show/12195

Old Black Batmobile (group 6)

Citation