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Original Batmobile Sells For $4.2 Million
Kittenman writes "Rick Champagne, a 56-year-old company owner from Arizona has bought the original Batmobile (dating back to Burt Ward and the '60s) for $4.2 million. He's quoted as saying it 'was a dream come true.' From the article: 'The Batmobile design was based on a 1955 Lincoln Futura, a concept car built in Italy by the Ford Motor Company.
It was the first time that car had come up for public sale since it was bought in 1965 by car-customiser George Barris, who transformed it in 15 days, at the cost of $15,000 (£9,400), into the superhero's famous vehicle.'"
I wonder if Champagne was ever at an AA meeting.
http://static.fjcdn.com/pictures/na+na+na+na+na+na+na+na+BATMAN_84f54d_2291408.gif
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Table-ized A.I.
George Barris was possibly the most commercially successful of the "Kustom Kar" scene in the 50's-60's, but he wasn't the only player. He certainly added to it, though, along with people like Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and many others. I think it's still happening in places. Pogo Chevvies....
http://www.barris.com/
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
While the Futura technically DOES date back to Ward as well, Ward played Robin and thus rarely drove the Batmobile. Most people think of the live-action Batman as Adam West... Fun fact, Adam West was listed in the Sun Valley, ID white pages as Batman for many years :)
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you
he also worked in updating KITT for the later seaons(i think starting in season 2).
It's not the eff-ing "Robin Mobile"!
ADAM WEST. Thank you, very much...
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
I thought the original batmobile was a 1939 Cadillac.
He started a company that employs people and creates jobs. How many jobs have you created?
Its a matter of degree... compared to the Wall Street scumbag buying his twelfth McMansion, or the Oil Exec dropping half a billion dollars on a yacht the size of a third word country, this guys a veritable Mother Teresa.
The sale price is rather high for a modified stock car, but hey, it is ~the~ Batmobile, the one that everyone alive then remembers seeing on TV. So, if the buyer could auction or resell it later and turn a profit, maybe it isn't a bad idea to pay that number. You can rent it out for any number of publicity stunts. I've said the same as you over things I wouldn't buy, only to later learn the buyer turned it around and sold it for a large profit.
Must really want a date with Catwoman.
Or Robin. Who knows?
Scruting the inscrutable for over 50 years.
It's a matter of means. we don't know if Champagne cozied up to his Congrespeople for favorable legislation, or to avoid prosecution, like so many corporatists.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
Wake me up when a Tumbler goes for sale. If one of those babies becomes available, I'll have to start hatching up an evil plan to gather the cash, and morality be damned!
It is a modified Lincoln Concept Car. It was a one off (there might be a couple of them...but it was never mass-produced) that was then modified. You can not buy the base car, as it was never for sale for the general public. 4.2 million is a lot for any car...but this one is unique with a interesting and culturally relevant history. It may even pay for itself eventually with paid showings at car shows and comic conventions; and is future resale value will probably go up with time; not down. There are a lot of other thing this man could have wasted his money on...at least it wasn't bought with bailout money.
before they got in the car?
"GET IN THE CAR!"
I like microcars
buying his twelfth McMansion, or the Oil Exec dropping half a billion dollars on a yacht
Actually, those actions are both positive ones because they employ craftsmen in the first world at usually significantly better than average wages and create durable goods, the Walmart buyer who insists on buying useless throwaway crap at prices that only slave labor and environmental destruction can supply does much more harm.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
BBC reports it sold for 4.2mil, while other sites report the sale at 4.62 million.
Probably more than the whole cast made total. Is a one of a kind though :)