This was one of the greatest comicons solely because all of the Batmobiles were there and close enough to touch…. It took forever to find them on opening night, and we had to ask at least 10 con crew where they were. The 11th guy knew and directed us to a dark tent way outside and to the back of the convention center…not many had found them yet so it was easy to get great pics without throngs of people all around the cars.
Enjoy and stay tuned for more from Comicon 2012.
The George Barris classic from the 1960’s
more of the Barris-mobile
the gorgeous curves of the front view
Anton Furst designed this 1989 beauty for the Tim Burton Batman films
Tim Flattery’s design for the Val Kilmer’s Batman forever
Harald Belker’s sleek design for the George Clooney Batman and Robin film
Nathan Crowley, Chris Culvert, and Andy Smith’s Tumbler, for Christopher Nolan’s Batman films.
Eavesdropping with Johnny 
Holy heartbreak, Batman. 😀 Man, I’d love to have been there. Batman and Superman have always been my favorite superheroes.
I love the 1960s Batmobile, that’s by far my favorite. My second favorite is actually the “Batman Forever” Batmobile. I love the retro 1940s styling with some futuristic touches. Sure, the glows were a bit much, but they fit the styling of the film. My 3rd favorite is definitely the 1989 Burton film Batmobile. I was 10 years old when that movie came out and I was so stoked when my parents took me to see it. I remember seeing that car on screen during its big “reveal” after the fight in the museum and I was absolutely speechless. The “Tumbler” is cool, though it never really said “Batmobile” to me. But, it fits with the grittier, harder-edged and more realistic Christopher Nolan films. It’s clearly based on current stealth technology and it’s really cool. (I see a desert camo one from The “Dark Knight Rises” in the background of the 1989 Batmobile pic) The only one I don’t really care for is the “Batman and Robin” one. I mean, it’s OK, but it also doesn’t do a lot for me. Though, I don’t find much about that film that’s visually appealing. I did back when I was 19 years old (when it came out) but I’ve outgrown it. Still, it was great to see all of the cars, even that one.
Anywho, thanks as always for sharing some great pics with us. As usual, I’m jealous, but I’m also happy that you posted these. I love them. 😀
The classic 60’s has always been my fav!!!! then Burton’s, then the Tumbler for me. yeah that scene in Batman after the museum was so cool especially with that awesome Elfman score n choir playing along the way,,, do you remember that cool shot of that wickedly cool gas pedal????
Oh yeah, I love the gas pedal. 😀 You’re right about Danny Elfman’s score. That man knows how to compose some awesome movie music. 😀 They used his music from those movies in the game Lego Batman.
The Barris classic simply rules! It looks futuristic and modern even now and wouldn’t look out of place on screen today.
The Tumbler’s my next favourite followed by Anton Furst’s Batmobile which will always hold a special place in my heart because I won a local radio competition in 1989 to go and see the Welsh premiere of Batman in 1989 in Cardiff. The movie was screened at midnight and there was a queue around the block with a carnival atmosphere; knife swallowers, fire breathers, the lot. That Batmobile really jumped off the screen.
The less said about Batman and Robin however…
How cool!!! I would get to go to those special screenings every once in a while in Arizona, but it was so hard to win the contests to go,, A lot of times I would just scope out the place the day before and sneak in the night of the event, HAAA!!! SSSSSHHHH don’t tell anyone though! I to loved Anton’s. What a great Rig he came up with!
OH I so love the Batmobile! I agree that for lines, beauty, era and all the first in the finest. Great shot from the front! I loved Batman Begins, seeing how i hadn’t really gotten into batman (except in the movies) until around that time. The whole movie was enjoyable, and watching the development of the basic “tools of the trade” was fun…but seeing Morgan Freeman come up with a Batmobile that was truly a tool worthy of the Batman was just fun and exciting to me…whether or not it fit BatHistory, Heh. The look, not traditional Batman and not my favorite look…but I want one!
More!!! I know you will be posting more Con pics…can’t wait! 😀
I loved the tumbler too. For the Batman they created, it was the perfect design for him! I was a huge fan of the 60’s show and the Barris-mobile will always be my fav!!! My dad brought home a model kit of it for me when we lived in Black Canyon City and it was so fun to build it with him!!!
Its the 1966 Batmobile for me too, followed by the Burtonmobile. the 1966 still is way cool today and looks great from any angle. But the tumbler seems the most realistic and I gotta admit its ugly in a cool firefly/millenium falcon kinda way.
WE are brothers I am sure,,, Deg too, I am going to have to dig in Mom’s files to see if she sold out you and Deg as Babies…
Thank you for posting those Batmobiles. I truly love all of them and even the concepts of Batman and what he represents.
Yeah what an awesome series of films and rigs!!! so glad you enjoyed these
Gotta love the classic Batmobile.
Indeed! I love that Barris used Rainbird sprinkler heads as the oil slick jets on the bumper.
Of course the 60s one rules for style, but I have to say, the 1989 Batmobile really holds up. I sometimes feel that in person, it looks even better than it did on screen—the curves are more evident.
it was preety dark in the film but it is an awesome, sweet machine, especially in person
Absolutely love the 60s version. The curves and the tails that looks cool without being over the top. The 80s version is great too. The Tumbler never really did it for me, even as a military armoured vehicle.
so agree on the first two and I have to say I liked the Tumbler,, It wasn’t what I was expecting when I saw the new films but I really liked what they came up with
Thanks for the great pictures. Usually when I see something special I don’t have a camera with me. Not that I’m any good with it but even a blind squirrel etc…
It’s amazing that the classic Batmobile looks better now than it did in the early 70’s when I saw it on display outside the Minidome in Pocatello, Idaho. Well managed age makes so many cars look better. I wish I’d kept my 70 Camero, or my mother’s 57 Chevy Bel Air Station wagon, or accepted the 65 Mustang that my father-in-law wanted to give me. Most of all, I wish I had talked the old farmer down the street into selling me his son’s 59 vette (he died in Vietnam). That car sat under a tarp until sometime in the 80’s when I lost track of it.
Oh those opportunities come n go without warning, and usually with bad timing! Sorry you missed out on the above but I am sure more fun is out there somewhere
You just can’t beat the fun that is the Barris Batmobile! Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, Batman!
A VERY close second is the one from Burton’s Batman movies. Seriously love the jet engine and those sleek lines! The others are ok, but just don’t have the same grab for me.
Now the Tumbler, that would be more fun than a barrel full of monkeys! Oot oot! I’d get myself in to trouble with that thing!
HAAAAA me too, I’m sure I’d roll it before I got 100 yards in it!!! And hey was it na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, or Da, da, da, da, da,
Its so hard to choose one. Of course the Barris mobile gets points for style and overall Battyness, but the Burtonmobile and Nolan mobile say “dont eff with me”. Part of the cocnept of Batman is to put fear into criminals and the Burtonmobile and Tumbler do that.
and how, I never thought about it that way but your right!
My vote is for the Anton Furst movie Batmobile.
You know its funny a couple of years ago I was reading an article about the making of that particular batmobile. The guy who they were talking to was a model shop guy named John Evans which I misread as John Eaves and assumed was you. So for a while there John I assumed you designed the Enterprise-E and the batmobile.
OH I wish I could of had a go at a Batmobile!!!! I did get to design for the Arkham Asylum for the Jim Carrey batman which was great, great fun!
John didnt you build the Riddlers hide out model for that one as well?
Best time for seeing exterior displays is on Sunday at CC. The crowds really thin out.
The Batmobiles were there to promote the new book about them, and a documentary that is due out in December. They were showing clips of the documentary on the exhibit floor, and on a laptop in a small tent outside. The documentary looks pretty neat, although I’ll admit that I’m not much of a Batman fan. The book also shows some of the earlier Batmobile designs from the comics. And I think that there was a Batmobile from the 1940s too.
Also, at least one of the Tumblers was rigged for practical effects–there was a guy there with a remote control unit who popped up the rocket launchers and retracted them, and I think a few other surfaces moved too. He was doing this on Sunday afternoon when I was there.
Anybody who cannot get into CC, there’s still lots of stuff to see outside for free. If you live in L.A., it could be fun simply to drive down for the day. CC is always a party.
Did they say when the documentary would be out? and/or it’s title?
If they did I didn’t catch the title of either the book or the documentary
To answer my own question, it seems like the Batmobile documentary is a special feature on the upcoming home video release of The Dark Knight Rises.
http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/09/27/the-dark-knight-rises-blu-ray-exclusive/
Close contest between the Tumbler and the Furst car!
It’s a hard choice in deed!
The first and the Furst for me!
Last time I was in Burbank I walked into Barris’s shop and they were kind enough to let me take pictures. They had the #1 Batmobile and the Munster Koach, as well as other TV cars, in their showroom. Just love the Futura Batmobile. Like many kids of the 1960’s, I drew it and the Irwin Allen subs and spaceships incessantly!
Love the lines of the Anton Furst design. But it rides so low you’d only have to jump the median to escape Batman!
I do have some fondness for the Batman Forever car because I lit the model kit with lightsheet for an article in an old Amazing Figure Modeler. I still have that model in a box somewhere…
Thanks for posting these fun pics, John!
They are so cool at the Barris shop!!!! I’ve been there a hundred times and on the hundred and first time Barris was there and he chatted for about an hour and signed a batmobile picture too!!!
Hey John – Do you know for sure that the 1966 Batmobile on display here is the original #1 car? If so, Mr. Barris has really cleaned the ole girl up compared to the last time I saw her. She is always my favorite followed by the Anton Furst design! Really cool to see them all together and thank you for posting these fantastic pictures!
Marc
Pretty sure that’s a replica, there were a limited run of replicas made back in 2010 according to Wikipedia.
And I too gotta go with ’60s Batmobile first and Tim Burton’s Batmobile second and I dig the rebooted Batmobile idea of the tumbler as third. The other two from Schumacher’s movies are a joke.
I’ll find out tomorrow about this!
It is very Possible,, I’ve been to Barris’s place many times and #1 is always there!!! It’s parked next to the Munstermobile!
He has really done her over great, A toy company came in about three years ago to scan n photograph #1 for their toys so Barris refurbished her with spectacular attention to detail.
GOING BATTY EH?
id have to go with the 66 for “core love” car love? and the 89 for pure design quality…
the tumbler is great, but really is its own design… kudos to that too.,..
back in 95 i designed a DC CDrom that never got shipped.. as in the vogue back then it was to have a “sliding ” make your own “activity thingie”
http://www.cube3.com/gallery/dc.htm
the two sketches are for the “batvehicle” make thing… since we coudlnt “make a batmobile” via license issues.
front/ middle/rear type thing.. etc etc… never modeled it… project died after a year plus of my creative life…
The Barris Batmobile has always been my favorite, because it led me to learn about its previous life as the Lincoln Futura concept car.