1966 BATMAN BATMOBILE TOY DIECAST CAR

GEORGE BARRIS 1966 BATMAN BATMOBILE TOY DIE CAST CAR. 1966 BATMAN TV SHOW WITH ADAM WEST BATMOBILES IN SCALE 1/18, 1/50 AND 1/64.

The real story of the Batmobile begins in 1955 when the Ford Motor Co. took delivery of their latest "car of the future", aptly named "The Futura". It was a 19 foot long two-seat grand touring car which featured instruments housed in the steering wheel, push button transmission, exterior microphones to pick up and transmit the sounds of traffic to the occupants inside and a host of other innovative devices. It was described as a "rolling laboratory" from which Ford would learn about new technology to apply to their production automobiles. The body was hand crafted by the Ghia Body Works in Turin, Italy and shipped back to the states onboard the ill fated cruise ship Andrea Dorea which would later sink after colliding with another ship (with still another custom car onboard). After its usefulness at Ford had finally come to an end it was put into storage to await an uncertain fate. At one point the car was brought out and leased to a motion picture company for use in the 1956 Glenn Ford / Debbie Reynolds film "It started with a kiss" where its gleaming white body was covered in red paint. That might have been the last time it was seen by the public if not for custom car builder George Barris who found it and purchased it. Years later, when he heard that Fox was going to be doing a Batman TV series where they needed an exotic car, he sketched out a version of the Futura with suitable "Bat" alterations and presented it to the producers. They agreed that it was what they were looking for and signed a contract stating that it would be available on a certain date, in full running condition. After all, it had to be shown hurtling down the streets at fantastic speeds to stop crimes in progress! That was the theory anyway...