The Bat Key

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This is the Key to the vehicle that became the Batmobile was introduced in Detective Comics #27, the first Batman story. Originally, the vehicle was a simple red convertible with nothing special in its functions. Although the Batplane was introduced in Detective Comics No. 31, the name "Batmobile" was not applied to Batman and Robin's automobile until Detective Comics No. 48 (February 1941). The Batmobile built for and used in the 1966–1968 live action television show Batman and its film adaptation was a customized vehicle that originated as a one-off Ford concept car of the 1950s. The TV Batmobile was based on the Lincoln Futura Show Car, originally created by William M. Schmidt and his design team at the Lincoln Styling Department; its rakish lines are said to have been inspired by the mako shark and the manta ray. In 1954 the Futura prototype was built entirely by hand by the Ghia Body Works in Turin, Italy at a reported cost of US$250,000; it was unveiled in its original pearlescent Frost-Blue white paint finish on 8 January 1955 at the Chicago Auto Show. In 1959, sporting a fresh red paint job, the Futura was featured in the film It Started with a Kiss, starring Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford. In late 1965 20th Century Fox Television and William Dozier's Greenway Productions contracted renowned Hollywood car customizer Dean Jeffries to design and build a "Batmobile" for their upcoming Batman TV series. He started customizing a 1959 Cadillac, but when the studio wanted the program on the air in January 1966, and therefore filming sooner than he could provide the car, Jeffries was paid off, and the project went to Barris. Barris had somehow already come into possession of the Futura, which had been parked behind his Hollywood shop for several years. With only three weeks to finish the Batmobile (although in recent years Jeffries says that his car was dropped because he was told it was needed in "a week and a half", he was quoted in 1988 as saying "three weeks" as well), Barris decided that, rather than building a car from scratch, it would be relatively easy to transform the distinctive Futura into the famous crime-fighting vehicle. Design work was conducted by Herb Grasse, working as an associate designer for Barris. Barris hired Bill Cushenberry to do the metal modifications to the car and its conversion into the Batmobile was completed in just three weeks, at a reported cost of US$30,000. Barris retained ownership of the car and leased it back to 20th Century Fox and Greenway Productions for use in the series. The estimated 1966 value of the Barris Batmobile was about $125,000, but today it is estimated to be worth at least US$2 million. In December 1965 Ford sold the Futura to Barris; despite its huge original production cost—the equivalent of approximately US$2 million in 2009 -- Barris was able to purchase the vehicle for the nominal sum of $1.00 and "other valuable consideration". When filming for the series began, several problems arose due to the age of the car: it overheated, the battery went dead, and the expensive Mickey Thompson tires kept blowing. By mid season, the engine and transmission were replaced with a Ford Galaxie's. The most frequent visual influence of this car is that later Batmobiles usually have a rear rocket thruster that fires as the car makes a fast start. Technical specifications Curb weight: 5500 lb Wheelbase: 129 in Length: 230 in Width: 90 in Height: 48 in Fins: 84 in Engine: 390 in, V-8 (atomic turbine) Transmission: B&M Hydro Automatic (2nd transmission) [edit]Features This Batmobile's gadgets include a nose-mounted aluminium chain slicer, lasers, rockets, an on-board telephone, radar, dash monitor, on-board computer, and police beacon. If needed, the Batmobile is capable of a quick 180° "bat-turn" thanks to two rear-mounted ten-foot parachutes, and it is equipped with a smoke emitter and a nail spreader to discourage pursuit. Some changes were made during the run of the series, including different license plates, a change in steering wheel, and the addition of extra gadgets such as the rear-facing camera and battering ram. Other devices included: Emergency Bat-turn Lever (releases the Batmobile's parachute that enables quick turns) Bat-ray (can do many things, such as open van doors) Automatic Fire Extinguisher Mobile Batcomputer Bat Beam Emergency Tire Inflator Bat Smoke Screen Bat-tering Ram (also known as the Bat-ram, used for knocking down reinforced doors) Voice Control Batmobile Relay Unit Bat-photoscope (works in conjunction with the Microfilm Crime File back in the Batcave. Through this device a photo from the crime file can be reproduced in the Batmobile.) Batphone Police Band Cut-In Switch Mobile Tracking Scope Cup holder. GCLC is figuring that the Batmobile will depreciate 96.196648 percent after three years. Wow how quick it will depreciate