1989 Batmobile Is Looking for a Dark Knight, Will You Be the One?

But I guess that's ultimately down to when each of us was born. I know that many of you who are older than me will probably say that Adam West was the best of all the actors that portrayed Batman. And I'm aware that younger people will choose Christian Bale every day. But I guess that we all look up to the same moral values that Batman encompasses and that we all sometimes feel like we're living in Gotham City.

As Batman didn't have any superpowers, he relied solely on his gadgets to change the world for the better. So, apart from Robin, he required a mechanical sidekick to keep him on the right track. Enter the Batmobile. There have been several iterations of this fictional vehicle over the past half a century. Different people will favor different versions of it.

And although I've traveled 3,000 miles (4,828 km) close to a Tumbler on the occasion of the 2016 Gumball 3000 rally, I feel that the 1989 Batmobile is still the coolest one so far. Several replicas have been advertised for sale over the past few years, but I can't say I've ever purposely looked for one online. But this unit just fell into my lap, and I couldn't help but share my excitement with you as well.

Located in Venice, Florida, this is listed as a 1989 Chevrolet Caprice. For the original 1989 film, a Chevrolet Impala chassis was used, and two cars were built. Alas, there's no aviation-sourced jet engine in this replica car, so you'll have to settle for a less potent LS1 unit instead. This has been mated to a 4L60E automatic transmission, so it should be somewhat comfortable to cruise around in this.

There are a few features on this car that make you wonder if it's still road-legal. And two of those features are the functioning afterburner and machine guns. Yikes! The lack of visibility is compensated by using reverse and side-view cameras. You also get an air-ride suspension system, in case you want to drop in at your local stance meet.

The replica Batmobile is sold by the people at Ideal Classic Cars. Unfortunately, there's no word of the asking price, as they're expecting potential customers to call them directly. I did some research on the topic, and I found out that back in 2008, a Batmobile replica was expected to fetch as much as $500,000, although some sources even rated it for about $1 million. I also know that a Tumbler replica is also worth the same amount, so the question is, is the Tumbler cheaper or more expensive than its 1989 sibling?