In 1955, the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company designed and built a futuristic concept car call

In 1955, the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company designed and built a futuristic concept car called the Lincoln Futura. It was built entirely by hand in Turin, Italy at a cost of $250,000, and like many concept cars, was never put in to production. In the mid 1960’s, George Barris of Barris Kustom City acquired the car for $1 directly from Ford.

Fast forward to August 1965, the Batman TV show producers approached George to have him build a new Batmobile for their upcoming show. The only catch was the car had to be ready for action in a mere three weeks. Seeing the bat-like qualities his Futura already had, George knew it was the perfect answer to the quandary 20th Century Fox had created.

In October of 1965, the Batmobile was completed and delivered to Fox where it made its television debut on January 12, 1966.

The car was such a huge success that George Barris and the producers of Batman decided to build copies of the Batmobile in late 1966. Barris and his crew pulled a mold from the #1 Batmobile and created 3 fiberglass copies. These replicas were displayed at car shows and dragstrips and also made appearances where countless fans could see them.

Over 45 years later the 1966 TV Batmobile is still one of the most iconic and popular cars in the world.