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Topic starter
22/04/2026 10:01 am
Built in 1954, designed by Bill Schmidt and John Najjar and built by Ghia of Turin, Italy, for a whopping $250.000 or $3 million in today's dollars, it combined jet age design with the latest in automotive technology. It was a fully functional automobile that introduced the 368 Y-block engine and a unique prototype "Y"-shaped backbone perimeter frame with both incorporated into the '56 and '57 Continental Mkll. Originally it was painted in a greenish hue of white with millions of crushed fish scales that gave if a pearlescent quality. This double bubble top design was a test bed for styling cues for the 1956 breakout year when Lincoln fully separated itself from Mercury. Still functioning in 1959, painted in red, it was the star of the 1959 movie, "It Started With a Kiss" with Glenn Ford and Debbie Reynolds. Ironically, its legacy became set when George Barris took the rusty, abandoned Futura from his back lot and created the iconic Batmobile in 1966.
Note the headlamp groups on the '56 Lincoln Premiere:
This topic was modified 20 hours ago by Rich Sufficool
22/04/2026 1:15 pm
Rich, did you ever conclusively determine that HW's Batmobile was under-scaled - OR - was MC's Futura over-scaled? I think HW blew it, correct? 🤔 🤔
GDH reacted
Topic starter
22/04/2026 1:28 pm
@chris The overwhelming consensus on the collector sites were that the HW Batmobile was 1/19.
GDH and Christopher Moroni reacted
22/04/2026 1:35 pm
Blew it? If the rumors are true, no. It was intentionally a 1:19 scale model.Rich, did you ever conclusively determine that HW's Batmobile was under-scaled - OR - was MC's Futura over-scaled? I think HW blew it, correct? 🤔 🤔
The rumors are that to save money on shipping, the 1:18 scale makers routinely underscaled certain models so that they could be shipped more cheaply. As we all know, size matters in most things. I guess that extends to shipping boxes of 1:18 models, too!
22/04/2026 1:43 pm
It would have made a dandy Traumwagen. 
Topic starter
22/04/2026 3:39 pm
@marty-johnson Reminds me of the old Revell plastic aircraft kits that were scaled to fit a standard box... usually the length of the fuselage.
Topic starter
22/04/2026 3:42 pm
23/04/2026 7:47 am
I have always felt it was a crime to turn this piece of history into the Batmobile. Kapow, splat!
23/04/2026 8:21 am
@bob-jackman; I was surprised that it was allowed to languish so badly before the Batmobile decision was even made! Holy hack job Batman!
This post was modified 7 hours ago by Jack Dodds
Topic starter
23/04/2026 10:24 am
@jack-dodds Many beautiful and iconic concept cars of the 1950's met fates way worse than the Futura. In essence. it still lives on. There are some fantastic recreations of the Futura that turn up at shows, so the image survives anyway.
Jack Dodds and Christopher Moroni reacted
23/04/2026 2:51 pm
@rich-sufficool Yes sad but true and the worst case IMHO is the crushing of most of the Chrysler Turbine cars; which we have lamented here a few times. Sickens me.
Marty Johnson reacted
23/04/2026 3:04 pm
In the early '70s, I worked at Ford's Transmission Division in Livonia, Michigan. There was a test track on the grounds of the facility where Ford would test not only Ford vehicles, but cars from almost every manufacturer on the planet. Mercedes, BMW, Renault, Fiat, British Leyland, Toyota, Datsun, and of course, GM, Chrysler, and AM. Once testing was completed, the cars were crushed. Ford reasoned it was cheaper and easier to scrap 'em than to sell 'em.@rich-sufficool Yes sad but true and the worst case IMHO is the crushing of most of the Chrysler Turbine cars; which we have lamented here a few times. Sickens me.