The Diecast Zone · Model Car Club Since 1994
Diecast Collector Forums
Eight forums, every scale, and thirty years of shop talk — new arrivals, restorations, reviews, and the finds you won’t see posted anywhere else, with the full archive back to 2002 restored and searchable. Free to Register.
8Forums
195,000+Topics
1,276,000+Posts
10,000+Members
Notifications
Clear all
Forum 18
6
Posts
5
Users
26
Reactions
1,285
Views
Topic starter
12/10/2024 9:55 pm
Say what you want about cars like the Ferrari 250 SWB or the 275 GTB/4 that go for millions. Well the same can be said for the 1966 Barris Batmobile #1 that was cobbled together in 3 weeks for a TV show that lasted 3 seasons. The car wasn't made for closeups ( the turbine exhaust was a 5 gallon paint can) and ran so poorly, it had the engine, drive train, brakes, etc replaced during the course of the seasons, yet somehow it sold at B-J for $4.62 million. Flash forward 58 years where most of the population weren't alive in 1966 and watch this current Barrett-Jackson auction. A Batmobile replica built in 1989 sold for $220,000. It was faithful to the original (and much better built), but it begs the question: What makes this car so desirable? It can't just be for its cultural statement of 1960's kitsch, but rather the genius of the Barris Brothers to take a rusting mid-50s concept car and create such a desirable and unique image that was merely cheaply designed for a campy TV show.
13/10/2024 8:50 am
What makes this car so desirable?
Oh, I see you desire to engage in a discussion that could last months, many months. 😏 🤔
BTW: I think of you whenever I watch my 1/12 scale working TV..... NA, NA, NA, NA... NAAA.....BATMAN! 😎
Topic starter
13/10/2024 9:15 am
Yep. I got "triggered". Now I need to go to my "safe space". LOL
13/10/2024 9:21 am
It is an extremely important question you ask, Rich. In my view, the twentieth century offered a unique moment in cultural history where technology and rapid social change permitted not jus a flow, but a torrent of new ideas and concepts and for the first time in human history, the ordinary people who actually made the resultant products were the targeted consumers, themselves. So a democratisation of culture, mixed with exponential increase in purchasing and enjoyment of those products and cultural concepts, give us, today, a 'golden age' to reflect upon. Why ? Because those days are over.
13/10/2024 9:57 am
Nice pictures and writeup Rich. Contrary to most, in 1966 I was 26 years old and so immersed in my career, I rarely went to the movies or paid attention to the cars featured in the popular films of the time. Having said that, the first time I saw a Batman movie and saw the Bat Mobile I became hooked which I now describe as Iconic cars...which include the DeLorean, 68 Mustang and Charger, etc. etc.
