The Batmobile history is a bit of an involved story. The 1966 Batman TV Show was derived from the 1940s character from DC Comics. ABC wanted a slick car for the show that would be fitting of a superhero. The vehicle had to be produced for the TV show in just 21 days. Bob Kane, who was the script writer of the show for ABC, consulted about this dilemma with George Barris.

It just so happened that George had recently obtained the Lincoln 1955 Futura car from Ford Motor Company. This car was used in the movie called "It Started With a Kiss" that starred Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford. The Futura was a dream car designed by Lincoln-Mercury and constructed in Italy by the coach builder Ghia.

This car was the favorite at the Ford car shows in the 1950s. George Barris came up with a plan to design the 1966 Batmobile based on the existing Futura design. The biggest problem in designing the Batmobile was the fact that Barris only had a few weeks to get it done.

He worked for a whole day sketching out his ideas for the 1966 Batmobile. He then took the ideas to Bob Kane who passed them on to ABC who approved the plans. George Barris, with the help of Bud Kunz and Les Tompkins, had to get right to work on the Batmobile as the deadline was fast approaching.

While the car got a big makeover, they left the basic shape of the Futura alone. The front, back, and sides were reworked in order to make it look more bat like. Things like headlights being hooded, the front being peaked, and the nose or nostril shaped hood scoops made the front of the car more bat like.

From the scoops the hood was done in a bubble. The headlights were designed to look like eyes that retracted into what looked like bat ears. Special grill work was added in a pattern resembling an animal snout with a grimacing look.

On the rear similar grill work was installed. New fins were done to update the look. This gave the car its bat wing look. From the red bats on the rims to the red trim along the body of the car, the look was unique and genius.

The gadgets is what made the 1966 Batmobile a big hit with the fans. Bat phones were installed along with Bat chutes and a number of other cool gadgets. A Bat scope and even a remote camera with its own screen was installed.

The Bat Beam was a great gadget and one of the my favorites was the Emergency Tire Inflator which would instantly fix a flat with a touch of a button. Who wouldn't like that on today's roads. The Bat Ray was great for disabling other vehicles and the Bat Smoke Screen came in handy when trying to get away from villians. We could go on and on about the features on this classic piece of machinery.

Needless to say, the 1966 Batmobile is a piece of American history and should not be forgotten. We're so happy that Hot Wheels has come out the diecast version of this iconic vehicle.