An eccentric would-be Dark Knight from Sweden has created his very own Batmobile. He spent over one million USD and 20,000 man hours creating this swooping matt-black monster and, as 'replicars' go, it is pretty extensive.
The custom-moulded body is mounted to the chassis from a 1973 Lincoln Continental, and an unspecified engine is reported to give the new caped crusader over 700bhp to use for his noble deeds.
The owner picked a good starting point, choosing to base his car on the early-90s Tim Burton era Batmobile, featured in Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). The actual car built for the films featured a custom-built chassis and was powered by a Chevrolet 350 engine. One of the five of these cars that were built went up for auction back in May of this year, and though the final sale price is not known, it is thought to have been in excess of a quarter of a million USD.
That seems a relative bargain compared to this pricey replica, but there are some significant differences. As well as having considerably more power than the 90s poster car, this recreation has all sorts of mod-cons to keep any would-be Batman comfy during his/her non-crimefighting journeys as well as the inevitable action sequences.
There's sat-nav to help you find the scene of the crime (and other helpful POIs), a plasma TV for video calls to Alfred (and for distraction during Stockholm traffic jams), voice recognition to keep your fighting hands free (and avoid nasty fines), height-adjustable suspension for navigating dramatic obstacles in your path (and speed bumps), a rear-view camera to watch your back (and help with tight parking squeezes), and machine guns for, er, shooting stuff. Worryingly, there is no word on whether said firearms are real...
It may seem a lot of money for a toy, but if Batman taught us one thing, it was that having a lot of money and an eccentric streak is pretty much all you need to be a superhero. Nefarious miscreants of Stockholm, watch out!
