Evolution of the Batmobile

I noticed this sweet graphic tracking the evolution of the Batmobile that I just spent a fairly ridiculously long time staring at. I've read my share of Batman, but there are tons of designs that I'd never seen.

Comments

Amazing imaginations of the illustrators

[Suki I]

Those illustrators are great, thinking what cars would have been like if they existed before the 1950's. It is like the precursor to steam punk!

George Barris

[I8TheWorm]

George Barris did some really amazing work, including the 66 Batmobile, the Munster's coach, and a huge list of other slick creations. In the 60's he had a car driven by a joystick in the center console.

Check out his site... pretty fun stuff there.

Remember the Corgi model?

[H0p313ss]

If you were a kid growing up in the '70s then chances are you or one of your friends had one of the Corgi Batmobiles, and if you did my Grandfather played a small part in your childhood.

My grandfather was a "skilled metal worker", his specialty was the dies for casting metal, and later, plastic parts. His last job before retirement was over a decade with a small design shop in Worcester (UK) that contracted to Corgi. Many of the elements of the Batmobile were done by him and his friends.

Over a decade later he still called the Batmobile design his best work.

He passed away in 2002 at the age of 88 and I can tell you that even in his final months he was still passionate about craftsmanship. In one of the last conversations I had with him he told me about hanging out with his own grandfather who was a basket weaver and being taught how to weave reeds.