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Before there was Michael Keaton or Christian Bale (or Val Kilmer or even George Clooney for that matter), there was Adam West. And before the iconic Batmobile went Art Deco under Tim Burton's watch or had its DNA mixed with that of a tank when Chris Nolan rebooted the Batman film franchise, it was the epitome of sixties futuristic chic. The Batmobile created by George Barris for the 1966 TV series was based on a 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car that was purchased directly from Ford after making the auto show rounds. It sported tail fins that were modified to show a hint of bat wing, a bubble canopy cockpit inspired by a fighter jet, flashing red light, red pin striping (with accompanying red bat motif on doors and hub caps), a mobile Bat Phone mounted between the seats and flames shot out the rear "jet exhaust" pipe. You can read the full specs of the vehicle (and the contractual obligations designer George Barris had to fulfill) here.
While there were several official fiberglass replicas of the original 1966 Batmobile, the real thing remained in the possession of Barris until he decided to put it up for auction last December. It sold a few days ago for a tidy $4.6 million. According to CNN, the purchaser intends to install the Batmobile in his living room. Hopefully the new owner doesn't have a Ferris Bueller-aged or -inclined son, or a living room that's situated overlooking a steep ravine.
If you've now been foiled in your ambitions to personally own this piece of sixties pop culture goodness, you can console yourself with the fact that you can buy a pretty decent-looking replica online for about $190k (plus shipping from the UK). It's not exactly pocket change, but the fiberglass replica includes all the expected toys and gizmos — including that rocket exhaust flamethrower — and adds few modern touches (like a six speaker sound system) and puts up pretty impressive performance numbers, like a 5 second 0-60 time.
If that's still too steep for your budget, or you'd like a version that's maybe a little more kid-friendly, I found a pretty cool 1/24 scale paper model you can download, print and assemble. It's not quite the same as the $4.6 million version, but them again, this one can be yours for free (donation optional).
