Atomic Batteries To Power! Turbines To Speed! The Greatest Car There Will Ever Be!

 The Author and Wife.

Hello again! If you're reading this, you must be bored. However an audience is an audience so let me get started before you change your mind. This post is about the 1966 Batmobile and the love I have for it, the love I have for Adam West's Batman series, and why no other Batmobile will ever compare in my mind.

The sad inspiration for this post was the recent passing of car customizing legend George Barris on November 5th, 2015. Now I could write at length at how Barris built this classic vehicle from a 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car. I could talk about the short time he'd had to build it, and the countless toy reproductions that have been made over the years, but this blog is about MY thoughts and perspectives on the things that are important for me. Someone else could probably talk about the specs on the car much better than I. I won't even bother, If you're so inclined, there's tons of information out there on the internet about it.

Kenner's Super Powers Batmobile. Clearly inspired by the 66 Batmobile.

This is about THE Batmobile and me. I think when I was little, the first Batmobile I was familiar with was probably the one from the Super Friends cartoon and his appearances on Scooby-Doo. I'm sure it wasn't for long though, as I remember afternoon showings of the 60's series from an early age. Specifically I vividly remember the cliffhanger from the time the Dynamic Duo battled the Bookworm. Roddy McDowall had Robin tied to an enormous clapper inside a bell in a clock tower. That doesn't have anything to do with the Batmobile, but it has much to do with my earliest memories of a show I love so I figured I'd mention it.

 Figures Toy Company's 60's Batman figures.

Now the thing about the 60's Batman series; it isn't for everyone. I can love it and accept that. However if you really haven't ever watched it and just like to blather on about what you may have heard from other people, you really should go back and watch season one. It was pretty damned close to the comics of the time. Actually better in some respects. Also one should respect that it made Joker, Riddler, Penguin, Catwoman and to some degree Mr. Freeze, household names. In fact if it wasn't for the series, it's very possible Batman comics would have been cancelled and even if they weren't you wouldn't know who the Riddler and Mr. Freeze are today.

But that car, Man, that car! When that long, black, sleek finned and red pinstriped piece of rolling art comes onto the screen, even the scoffers sit up and take notice. The shiny black paint job, The distinctive pin-striping that makes it pop. Those double bubble windshields so iconic, that they were the standard on Batmobiles until Tim Burton's Batman in 1989 took them away,

Don't get me wrong, it made sense that they went away. In 1989 Joker's henchmen were shooting the hell out of that car! In fact that 89 car is my second favorite. It kept the single turbine in the back, It kept the fins. It even kept the shiny black color. In fact the two cars aren't all that far apart.

Mattel's 66 Batmobile vs. DC Collectibles Batman: The Animated Series Batmobile.

Still. I miss the world of the 1960's Batman and Robin, Crime fighting was deadly serious to them to be sure, but the villains sure got to have their fun. Certainly they tried to kill the Caped Crusaders in every episode, but to just gun them down? Where's the style, the class, the FUN in that?

The 66 Batmobile didn't need some fancy armored cocoon. It had an anti-theft deterrent button. It was labelled an ignition button, so crooks trying to steak it would be surprised when rear mounted rockets would launch fireworks and loud sirens to scare them off and attract unwanted attention. Hey, whatever works, right?

That wasn't all. It had a portable crime lab in the trunk! It could connect to the Batcomputer back in the Batcave, which is pretty amazing seeing as this was years before wireless internet. It had the Batphone, years before people had car or cell phones. Batman kicked ass and was a genius and Adam West didn't need Morgan Freeman to invent his tech for him.

Need to turn around in a hurry? No easy task in a car that size, but pull the emergency reverse turn lever and two Bat parachutes would come out to slow it down and then turn that sucker around. Eject those chutes, and a Bat Chute Retrieval Team in a panel van would swing by and pick them up!

Parachutes!

Therein lies the charm of Adam West's Batman. It's all in the exposed cockpit. See, Batman and Robin wanted the citizenry to see them. To trust them. Was Adam West's Batman a little crazy? Yeah a bit, but so was Gotham City. Good crazy. The villains wanted to get rich sure, but mostly they just wanted attention. To prove their superiority to the ultimate authority figure.

Clark on the phone with Commissioner Gordon.

In a world full of horrible serial killers and shady corporations, maybe an overweight Egyptology professor who thinks he's the reincarnation of King Tut isn't such a bad thing. Maybe an egotistical genius whose biggest EGGcentricity is dressing in egg white and yolk yellow, would be a welcome sight. Maybe leaving clues to all your crimes in advance is something that should be encouraged in a world of sick psychopaths. We wish we'd had the Penguin or Mad Hatter. What we got was Charlie Manson and the Zodiac killer.

Someday's you just can't get rid of a bomb!

In the rush to make Batman sooooo dark and brooding, maybe we lost something. Something that comes back every time we see that car. Some people see Adam West's Batman and love it. Some think it's everything that's wrong with the publics perception of comics. No one sees that car though and doesn't smile. It's timeless. It's classy. It's The Batmobile.

Dawn and I, in the dream car!