Batman By Land, Air & Water: A History of the Dark Knight's Vehicles

Batman By Land, Air & Water: A History of the Dark Knight’s Vehicles

To kill time while I anxiously wait for Friday’s opening of “The Dark Knight” I decided to look back on the various vehicles Batman has cruised around in over the years. Whether by land, air or water Batman always has the hottest ride in Gotham.

BY LAND

Batcycle
Appearing in both the original comic book and tv series the Batcycle allows Batman to quickly move through the congested Gotham streets. In the comic book the Batcycle has a computerized carburetor, bulletproof wind guards and a 786cc liquid cooled v4 engine.

In 1966 the Batcycle made its appearance in the Batman tv series. This version of the bike was a 1959 Harley Davidson with a sidecar for Batman’s homies to ride in. The bike was later replaced by a Yamaha Catalina and customized by Kustomotive. This model would be used for the remainder of the Batman series.

Bat Blade
This bike made its appearance in the “Batman and Robin” movie where it was stolen by uber hot batgirl, Alicia Silverstone (that chick from the Aerosmith videos). This ride can whip around in the most extreme conditions and is based on a drag racer design with a fat tire on the back.

Batpod
I cannot wait to see this thing in action when it makes its debut in “The Dark Knight.” Key features include 20 inch front and rear tires and an engine mounted in the hubs of the wheels. The bike was designed by Nathan Crowly who also designed “The Tumbler” Batmobile and is evident in its sleek design and fat tires. The Batpod is rumored to be steered by the shoulders, leaving the arms protected by armor. Other features that we can expect to see include grappling hooks, a cannon and machine guns.

Redbird
This was a sports coupe driven by Robin that was disguised as an everyday sports car. It featured bulletproof paneling, polarized windows and with its camouflaged armor was a perfect day to day vehicle for Tim “Robin” Drake.

The Batmobile
The most famous of Batman’s vehicles, the Batmobile is the super hero’s primary mode of transportation. Always a favorite among fans this vehicle has continuously appeared and evolved since the original Batman comic book was created.

Batmobile – Tv series 1966-1968
This vehicle was built on top of the 1955 Ford concept car called the Licoln Futura. Designer George Barris used the Futura as the basis for the Batmobile due to a three week deadline when the Batman series would begin filming.

Batmobile - Batman 1989
Built on a Chevy Impala chasis, with inspiration from the Porsche 962 and the 1930’s Bugatti Type 57, this Batmobile could violate the tailpipe of the tv series Batmobile any day. The design of the vehicle was a reflection of the Art Deco streets of Gotham with its long, streamlined, modern design. Tim Burton made sure that this version of the Batmobile was fully loaded with gadgets including wheel released small bombs, cocooning armor, duel retractable machine guns and a jet engine shooting out the back. The Batmobile would continue to have have a long, aerodynamic design in each Batman movie up until the introduction of The Tumbler in “Batman Begins” in 2005.

Batmobile - Batman Returns 1992

Batmobile - Batman Forever 1995

Batmobile - Batman & Robin 1997

The Tumbler - 2005
This vehicle took the Batmobile to another level with the sportiness of a Lamborghini and all terrain capability of a Hummer. The Tumbler made its first appearance in “Batman Begins” and will be reappearing in “Dark Knight.” The vehicle is 15 feet long and 9.5 feet wide. The newly designed vehicle does away with the previous wing designs and instead takes on the form of a sleek tank like design that is ready to take on any super villain’s weaponry. The Tumbler features 44 inch mud tires, a 5.7 liter Chevy V8 engine, a jet engine with vector control capable of propelling the vehicle 6 feet vertically and 40 feet horizontally. The Tumbler is slower than previous Batmobile’s, but is still capable of doing 266 mph and 0-60 in 5.3 seconds on all types of terrain. The vehicle also features a stealth mode that makes it difficult to detect in dark environments.

BY AIR

Batgyro
This plane originally appeared in a 1939 issue of the Batman comic book and was later replaced by the Batplane. The vehicle was based on an airplane but had twirling helicopter blades that allowed for vertical take off. The vehicle is rumored to have been inspired by the first sucessful helicopter take off.

Batplane
The Batplane went through 3 design changes in the comic book series aw the Batplane I, II and III. Batman would use modified planes from Wayne Aerospace so that he would not draw attention from his neighbors. He always chose the most aerodynamic planes when air transportation was a necessity.

Batcopter
The Batcoptor made its debut in the 1966 Batman film. The helicopter was leased from the National Helicopter Service due to a limited budget. The Batcopotor was a G3b-1 model that was painted red, fitted with a tubular frame, wings and finished off with a bat head on the front and Batman insignia on the sides.

The Batwing
The ultra sleek stealth bomber like Batwing made its first appearance in the 1989 Batman movie. Unfortunately its armor and aim were pretty lame as seen in the video clip below. That’s what you get for outsourcing overseas.

BY WATER

Batboat
The Batboat made its first appearance in an April 1946 Batman comic book. The Batboat included retractable foils that allowed for submersion, a state of the art navigation system, a pneumatic harpoon, a launching grapnel / anchor and active homing torpedoes.

Batskiboat
1992’s “Batman Returns” brought back the Batboat in the form of a high speed, shark like ski boat. The single seater boat included an advanced radar system, torpedo launchers and jet propulsion. Batman even took this high powered boat into the Gotham sewers in pursuit of the Penguin’s hideout.

The Bat Cave
With all of these badass toys a secret Batcave was always a necessity for Batman. Below are some images of various Batcaves throughout the years including an ultra pimp theater room that would be perfect for catching the premier of “The Dark Knight” on Friday, July 18, 2008. See ya there.

Bat Cave - Batman Comic Book 1968

Bat Cave - Batman Comic Book- 1990