Friday 2nd October 2009

Batmobile Replica Cost $1 million USD

The streets are safe again, but is the driver?

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An eccentric would-be Dark Knight from Sweden has created his very own Batmobile. He spent over one million USD and 20,000 man hours creating this swooping matt-black monster and, as 'replicars' go, it is pretty extensive.

The custom-moulded body is mounted to the chassis from a 1973 Lincoln Continental, and an unspecified engine is reported to give the new caped crusader over 700bhp to use for his noble deeds.

The owner picked a good starting point, choosing to base his car on the early-90s Tim Burton era Batmobile, featured in Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). The actual car built for the films featured a custom-built chassis and was powered by a Chevrolet 350 engine. One of the five of these cars that were built went up for auction back in May of this year, and though the final sale price is not known, it is thought to have been in excess of a quarter of a million USD.

That seems a relative bargain compared to this pricey replica, but there are some significant differences. As well as having considerably more power than the 90s poster car, this recreation has all sorts of mod-cons to keep any would-be Batman comfy during his/her non-crimefighting journeys as well as the inevitable action sequences.

There's sat-nav to help you find the scene of the crime (and other helpful POIs), a plasma TV for video calls to Alfred (and for distraction during Stockholm traffic jams), voice recognition to keep your fighting hands free (and avoid nasty fines), height-adjustable suspension for navigating dramatic obstacles in your path (and speed bumps), a rear-view camera to watch your back (and help with tight parking squeezes), and machine guns for, er, shooting stuff. Worryingly, there is no word on whether said firearms are real...

It may seem a lot of money for a toy, but if Batman taught us one thing, it was that having a lot of money and an eccentric streak is pretty much all you need to be a superhero. Nefarious miscreants of Stockholm, watch out!

See the car in action below.

 

[Puk]

I'm batman...





Awesome car ! I'd rather have this than a Fuglyatti Veyron !

[vdubbin]

Would have been nice to hear it fire up, even if it's not turbine powered...

[PompeyM3]

Yes, but would it beat a 335d round "The Ring"

[M3John]

Love it !

[Galsia]

PompeyM3 said:

Yes, but would it beat a 335d round "The Ring"

335d jokes are not funny...

[ronin.]

Galsia said:

PompeyM3 said:

Yes, but would it beat a 335d round "The Ring"

335d jokes are not funny...

Of course they are...
Admitting to owning a BMW is funnier though...

[Ed.]

It looks good but for a million dollars I think I would want a turbine, Y2K bike was $200,000.

[R34]

PompeyM3 said:

Yes, but would it beat a 335d round "The Ring"

No.

Look at the size of the bloody thing.

[SimonSaid]

vdubbin said:

Would have been nice to hear it fire up, even if it's not turbine powered...

That is the one feature really missing, for sure. Perhaps would have made it harder to get road approval though (imagine being behind it in traffic!).

That turbine does look a little bit like a cheap bonfire...

[jmatras]

There's something vaguely sexual about that thing...until you get around to the front and, my goodness, that thing is awfully small, isn't it?

[Spiritual_Beggar]

Worth EVERY penny.......for the looks alone


Imagine seeing that coming at you on the other side of the road. Awesome

[the baron groog]

Weapons Grade Muppet! $1m could have built him almsot anything and he chose to copy that!?

No imagination, probably less charisma!

[the_engineer]

That's awesome.

Looks to have pretty amazing attention to detail and quality of finish.

And agree with those above, would love to hear it fire up...

[aarondrs]

the baron groog said:

Weapons Grade Muppet! $1m could have built him almsot anything and he chose to copy that!?

No imagination, probably less charisma!

I dare say if he spent a million doing this he has other cars at his disposal. I say 'why not', it looks very cool. The panel gaps around the roof look a litle suspect though

[Blues]

I suppose it's ok, but i prefer mine

[S11EPS]

"a plasma TV for video calls to Albert"

Who the f*ck is Albert?
Do you mean Batman's butler 'Alfred'?

[aarondrs]

Blues said:

I suppose it's ok, but i prefer mine

Very very nice........ but where are the batman logos?

[grumbledoak]

That's awesome!

Shame it doesn't appear to be a real gas turbine car. I've seen one once on TV (old Top Gear, I think) and the sound was amazing!

[Blues]

It's in "stealth" mode, don't want to attract the attention of the villains

[ipwn]

S11EPS said:

"a plasma TV for video calls to Albert"

Who the f*ck is Albert?
Do you mean Batman's butler 'Alfred'?

ROFLCOPTER