Designer: Fireball Tim Lawrence and Julian Caldow
Builder: John Evans and Pinewood Studios
Based on: 1967 Chevrolet Impala
Batman and Batman Returns both follow the mysterious hero Batman (Michael Keaton) as he fights the sadistic Joker (Jack Nicholson), the psychotic Penguin (Danny DeVito) and the seductive Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer) in defense of the city of Gotham. To assist him in the fight against these villains, Batman utilizes the Batmobile which comes fully equipped with machine guns, smoke emitters and a “Batmissile” mode.
Driven by Michael Keaton in the 1989 and 1992 movies, the Batmobile was created from an assemblage of parts, such as Rolls-Royce jet engine components to form the hood-mounted intake. The turbine blades in the nose piece were scavenged from a British Harrier fighter jet. Two Batmobiles appeared in Batman and Batman Returns. Three additional studio-authorized Batmobiles, of which this is one, were constructed for publicity and promotional use after the film's release.
Both Gotham City and the Batmobile were designed by Anton Furst, Production Designer for the film. Furst won the Academy Award for his design of Gotham, which took a darker route than many of the Batman films and comics previously. Furst created a city that was teeming with crime and evil forces so much so that it impacted the architecture of the city. The buildings grew upwards without rules, a mixture of gothic and Victorian architecture, blending together and blocking out the sun. The architecture lent itself to villains and crooks that inhabited the city. It is in this dark world that the characters of Batman and the Joker could exist. It created a city that required Batman to save it. Furst wanted both Gotham and the Batmobile to become characters in their own right.
This Batmobile was custom built for the film, taking design cues from salt lake hot rods from the 1940’s, Corvette Stingrays from the 1970’s, and all kinds of military vehicles including fighter jets in order to give the Batmobile a sleek “knight in shining armor” look. All gadgets found on the car actually worked. The body had to be custom built to in order to incorporate all of the design elements. Once the car was built, the Batsuit had to be modified as the ears were too tall to fit inside the cockpit. The custom-built wings on the back ended up being asymmetrical, and the car was eventually scanned for toy reproductions of the Batmobile, meaning that all original toys are asymmetrical as well.