| Past Fast Mobiles |
The Batmobile of 1966
The Batmobile-to-be was the brainchild of Lincoln
Mercury's postwar chief stylist, Bill Schmidt. Inspired
by a scuba-diving encounter with a shark, Schmidt
sketched a low, long, wide, and flat vision of the
future with a predatory full width grille, ominously
Mercury's postwar chief stylist, Bill Schmidt. Inspired
by a scuba-diving encounter with a shark, Schmidt
sketched a low, long, wide, and flat vision of the
future with a predatory full width grille, ominously
hooded headlights, and killer tail fins. Built by Ghia in
1955, the $250,000 dream car was dubbed the Lincoln
Futura. It took just three months to ready the
concept car for its debut at the Chicago Auto Show in
January 1955. From there, the futuristic Lincoln was
driven to a show in Detroit. On March 3rd, just before
the NY Auto Show, with Benson Ford at the
experimental steering and Schmidt in the passenger
seat, the Futura cruised from the United Nation's
building through Central Park to the Tavern on the
Green (restaurant) for a photo session. The Futura
went on The Ed Sullivan Show, which Lincoln sponsored,
then to a guest shot on Dave Garroway's TV Show.
1955, the $250,000 dream car was dubbed the Lincoln
Futura. It took just three months to ready the
concept car for its debut at the Chicago Auto Show in
January 1955. From there, the futuristic Lincoln was
driven to a show in Detroit. On March 3rd, just before
the NY Auto Show, with Benson Ford at the
experimental steering and Schmidt in the passenger
seat, the Futura cruised from the United Nation's
building through Central Park to the Tavern on the
Green (restaurant) for a photo session. The Futura
went on The Ed Sullivan Show, which Lincoln sponsored,
then to a guest shot on Dave Garroway's TV Show.
Unfortunately, the excesses of the Futura
seemed woefully at odds with the design ethics
of the Sixties. And so it happened that the
unwanted car ended up in the possession of
George Barris. In 1965, Barris was
commissioned to build the Batmobile for ABC's
upcoming Batman TV series. But because the
show was about to go into production, he had
only three weeks to build it. He quickly
realized it didn't take much work to modify the
Futura for the part. While retaining the
chassis and the basic shape of the car, Barris
overhauled the nose and tail with numerous bat
like shapes and references. Barris in '66 would
assemble 3 more Batmobiles using bodies based
on the prototype mold and built on a production
car chassis.
seemed woefully at odds with the design ethics
of the Sixties. And so it happened that the
unwanted car ended up in the possession of
George Barris. In 1965, Barris was
commissioned to build the Batmobile for ABC's
upcoming Batman TV series. But because the
show was about to go into production, he had
only three weeks to build it. He quickly
realized it didn't take much work to modify the
Futura for the part. While retaining the
chassis and the basic shape of the car, Barris
overhauled the nose and tail with numerous bat
like shapes and references. Barris in '66 would
assemble 3 more Batmobiles using bodies based
on the prototype mold and built on a production
car chassis.
All pictures and information were supplied by Eric
Seltzer. If you would like more information about
the Batmobile please visit his web site "The
Greatest Bat site ever" at
www.1966batmobile.com.
Seltzer. If you would like more information about
the Batmobile please visit his web site "The
Greatest Bat site ever" at
www.1966batmobile.com.
Thanks Eric!
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