Holy Auction Prices! Batman’s Batmobile sells for $4.2 million

The Batmobile from the 1960s Batman TV series, starring Adam West and Burt Ward, has sold for $4.2 million at auction.

For those of us of a certain age, the Batmobile from the original Batman TV series of the 1960s is the only Batmobile, and probably the first time we saw a car being the star of a TV show.

Starring Adam West and Burt Ward, the Batman TV series was tongue in cheek and full of on-screen graphics like POW, WHAM and THWACK as Batman and Robin took on the bad guys. But the car was the undoubted star.

Based on a 1955 Lincoln Futura, the Batmobile was cobbled together by George Barris in just 15 days with a budget of $15,000 to get the Batmobile ready for shooting, and when all was done and dusted with the TV series, Barris bought the car for a token $1.

That $1 has now turned in to a more than decent return, with the Batmobile selling at the Barrett-Jackson sale in Scottsdale this weekend for a whopping $4.2 million (at which point we should come up with more Batman ‘Punch’ lines).

George Barris was on hand to see his creation add to his pension pot and hand over a pile of associated memorabilia to new owner Rick Champagne (a car collector from Arizona with deep pockets) who hasn’t said yet whether the Batmobile will be working for its living or hiding in Mr Champagne’s garage.

Kerching!