Batman's first official real car is for sale, the first officially licensed Batmobile was designed in 1960 and built in 1963 by then 23-year old Forrest Robinson and is based on a 1956 Oldsmobile
Batman's first official real car is for sale, the first officially licensed Batmobile was designed in 1960 and built in 1963 by then 23-year old Forrest Robinson and is based on a 1956 Oldsmobile
If you took The Good Oil by surprise and yelled: "What car do you desire more than anything else in the world?" We would undoubtedly instinctively cry out, "a Batmobile" before becoming slightly embarrassed and muttering something like "er ... no, I mean ... actually something like a Porsche ... or something ... " and running off to hide somewhere.
But that is not only because we have so far successfully resisted society's cruel demands to mentally develop past the age of 12, but also because Batman has long possessed some of the coolest road-going vehicles anywhere. Not to mention powerful: V8s, turbocharged sixes, gas turbines, jet engines - all of these things and more have powered the fictional bat car over the years.
Of course most people think that the real-life incarnation of the Batmobile started when Hollywood car guy George Barris quickly modified a 10-year old Lincoln Futura concept car to create Adam West and Burt Ward's ride in the campy 1966 TV series, but that is not actually true. And now Batman's first official real car is for sale ...
What is believed to be the first officially licensed Batmobile was designed in 1960 and built in 1963 by then 23-year old Forrest Robinson and is based on a 1956 Oldsmobile 88.
Originally silver, the "Robinson Batmobile" was painted with the familiar black and red livery in the mid-60s, when Batmania was at its peak.
Like a lot of movie and TV cars (although this is technically neither) the Robinson Batmobile spent close to 50 years lying around rotting before being re-discovered in 2008 and fully restored in 2013.
It is now up for auction and, while it is a very rare car and extremely coveted by Batfans, it is unlikely to go for the colossal US$4.6 million dollars that the original Barris Batmobile fetched last year ...
We are the world • It would seem that Kiwi cricket commentator Ian Smith's reaction to his car being hit with a cricket ball on live TV during a game has gone a bit viral - the YouTube clip of Smith fretting about whether or not it was his rental car that took the brunt of a Jesse Ryder six has been featured on websites around the world, including US car websites Jalopnik and Autoblog, as well as the UK's Daily Mail and numerous others.
• An apparently abandoned Mercedes in a parking garage in the UK has racked up $27,000 in fines. The black C-Class has been sitting in the building since 2011, is unlocked and has a broken rear axle. It hasn't been reported stolen, hasn't been involved in a crime and no one seems to know who owns it. The company that owns the parking building has had it towed ...
Past performance pales ...
We all know by now that The Good Oil is a fan of a good publicity stunt - provided it is a good one. And sometimes, when it comes to publicity stunts, simpler is better.
Volvo wins on the internet this week by finding an excuse to haul out a bright yellow example of its awesome 1994 855 T-5R.
It is 20 years since Volvo's "first dedicated performance estate" made its debut, so digging one up and taking a bunch of publicity pics with its current equivalent - the V60 Polestar - makes perfect sense. And the perfect reason to bathe in the T-5R's awesomeness once again.
The T-5R appeared at the same time that Volvo was competing in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) with the 850 Estate, so the impact of a road-going performance wagon (with serious performance) and the first wagon to run in the BTCC was quite a big one.
However, while Volvo released the awesome photos, it also released a few key stats that deflated our fond memories of the T-5R somewhat. While it was considered pretty damn powerful at the time, the T-5R's 179kW of power and 330Nm of torque seem a little weak-kneed next to the V60 Polestar's 260kW and 500Nm.
Not to mention the fact that its utterly stunning (for the time) 0 to 100 time of 7.0 seconds is thoroughly hammered by the V60's 4.9-second time. That's what a supercar would have been doing in the T-5R's day ...
'Vette too loud for Korea
Let's face it - we all like V8s (unless, of course, you are in some way broken inside) and we all like to hear them.
The new Corvette has a particularly good V8 and makes a particularly good sound, so it makes sense that everyone should love that, right?
The launch of the Corvette in Korea has had the brakes applied, thanks, it would seem, to the country's restrictive noise laws. Apparently the 'Vette is just too damn loud for Korea.
It would seem reasonable that GM could adjust the noise, but seeing as they only sold 12 in Korea last year, that would seem an unlikely expense to go to ...
The Tweel deal
One of The Good Oil's favourite pieces of technology we didn't really expect to see in production is the Tweel - an airless tyre that has been doing the rounds as a concept for about a decade.
Then Michelin went and spoiled all that by actually making the thing available for skid-steer loaders and certain models of John Deere ride-on lawnmowers.
Now the French company has taken an even bigger leap into the future of the Tweel by opening a dedicated production facility for it in Piedmont, South Carolina.
The facility will make the Tweel "available for wide commercial use in the United States", but so far no passenger car applications have been announced.
