If you thought Ben Affleck's recent casting as everyone's favourite vigilante was controversial, clearly you don't remember the public's response to the news that funnyman Michael Keaton would be donning the cape and cowl for Tim Burton's bat-movie.Īll that changed when the film's first trailer was released, revealing a dark tone, foreboding Gotham City, and the most kick-ass Batmobile anyone had ever seen.

The car's atomic turbine engine (actually a Ford V8) and afterburner made sure acceleration was always a big event, and a pair of rear-mounted parachutes helped the car perform a 180-degree spin whenever a villain took an unexpected turn. It also featured a telephone with the compulsory bat-motif styling, although that made it look unnecessarily awkward to hold. Throughout the movie – and the TV series that followed – the Batmobile demonstrated an impressive arsenal of bat-gadgets, including a chain slicer built into the nose, an array of lasers and rockets, and a dashboard monitor and rear camera that were way ahead of their time.

Arguably the first proper Batmobile, the 1966 incarnation is instantly recognisable, and for many it remains unsurpassed in terms of sheer cool.īuilt around a rejected 1955 Lincoln Futura prototype, the car that raced onto screens with Adam West behind the wheel was so perfectly realised – bubble canopies, long fins, and an added afterburner – you'd be forgiven for thinking it was custom-built from the ground up.

Download batmobile giger