As you might have heard, Batman Vs. Superman hit the cinemas this month to the pleasure of, well, it seems the muted appreciation of many.
There was a lot of anticipation for the movie though, Jeep even released a special edition model called the Batman Renegade to mark the joyous occasion. We wrote an article about it a couple of weeks back, the car looks a lot better than the film to be honest.
However good – or bad – the film might be, it still got us to thinking about one element of all of the movies that’s always been impressive: The Batmobile.
Say what you like about Michael Keaton (terrible) or Christian Bale (amazing), the Batmobile has always been a hot topic of conversation, and arguably the coolest part of any movie.
With that in mind, we’ve had a look around and have here, the definitive top three Batmobiles from the films. Don’t agree with us? We’d love to hear what you think!
The Tumbler from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight
Alright, let’s get the most obvious one out of the way, this car was amazing. Although it wasn’t given the name Batmobile like all the other iterations of the Caped Crusader films, the Tumbler roared onto our screens and into our hearts.
Christopher Nolan absolutely knocked this one out of the park, as the Tumbler fit in perfectly with the dark realism that the movies looked to create. Stepping far away from the original, cartoony features of the traditional Batmobile, this car was a force to be reckoned with. Obviously for filming purposes, there were multiple versions of it made, but the main car was basically a bespoke creation that was left to the hands of the designers.
Speaking to Tech Radar, head designer Nathan Crowley, said that the brief was to create a model that could travel up to 60mph. He and his 60-strong team – who were all based in Britain – took some inspiration from the army to create “a cross between a Lamborghini and a tank”. Powering the model was a 5.7-litre Chevrolet unit with an output of 400bhp that could take the car up to 100mph, just for the fun. It sits atop front racing wheels and super swamp tyres on the rear – this car couldn’t be anymore custom made if it tried.
The Batmobile – Adam West Style
We can practically hear the sound of your judging us for this one, but in our defence – without the original Batmobile, where would we be? Although it’s one of the iconic cars of the 60s, it actually began life as a Ford concept car that was called the Lincoln Futura, which was built over a decade before in 1955.
It also had its debut in 1959 featuring a lovely red paint job in the film It Started With A Kiss, according to Batman.Wikia.com. When it comes to the look, it’s lines were inspired by the mako shark and Empire Magazine reckons that the rest must have been created to look like bats, such is the resemblance.
This was the car that had the most gadgets, it was practically a gadget car, as it featured lasers, rockets, a Batphone, a radar, a Bat-tering ram (ha), a voice control Batmobile Relay Unit and the Bat-ray, among many, many other things. The only thing this vehicle was missing was a smooth voice, not unlike Kit in Knight Rider but you can’t have everything and – honestly, Adam West looked pretty damn cool cruising around in it. Holy busted tailpipe, Batman!
The Redbird from Batman and Robin
Okay, so the Redbird isn’t really a car, seeing as it’s a motorbike and all, but we reckon going rogue fits in very well with the vigilante nature of Batman and his… masked companion.
Similarly to the Batmobile, the Redbird was a lightweight vehicle make from fibreglass and carbon fibre materials. Allegedly it took its inspiration from the world of motorcycle racing and used a Honda off-road motorcycle as its foundation.
It had a lot less gadgets than the Batmobile, but it did have a central computer on the tank and a grappling hook – a sheer necessity when you’re out fighting crime.
Feature Image: Yasid Design
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