Holy Slot Racing Batman It’s the Scalextric 1966 Batmobile

Scalextric have developed a slot racing version of the 1966 TV Batmobile. Available to pre-order at the time of writing I have a feeling this one may sell out fast. I want one so that seems as good a reason for it to happen as any.

Now I’m far too young to remember the original TV series first aired, it was repeated here on TV many times and I kind of enjoyed it. Ok, it was pretty camp, but generally harmless. But the car was amazing. When I way young I loved the look of it, I still do. The retro vision of the future, which now looks dated is something I love. Go to Epcot in Florida and see what I mean. The 1950s and 60s visions of the future were way off but look great.

I think the reason I like the Batmobile so much as it was essentially the Lincoln Futura concept car. Built by Ghia in Italy, this 1954 metal bodied concept didn’t go anywhere until bought by George Barris. It sat around for a while, had one film appearance, and was slowly deteriorating in his yard. That was until he got the comission to build the Batmobile in a very short timeframe. Three weeks is all it took to convert the Futura to what you see here. Pretty close in some ways.

I bet Scalextric spent longer on the tooling to produce this great looking 1/32 model.

I read somewhere a while ago heat the unloved Futura was bought by Barris for $1, along with some other undisclosed dealings. Bit of a bargain as it later paid for itself again and again and at one point was probably the most valuable car on television. Especially as Barris retained ownership. The insurance valuation in 1966 was for $125,000.

It’s a shame to have lost the Futura, but the Batmobile has become a bit of an icon and the 1966 TV series version is till the one lots of people think of.

Barris built three more Batmobiles as replicas of the TV car based on a stretched Ford Galaxie. Two went on tour and a third was built as a drag car, which people could get passenger rides in. This Holman Moody 427 CI engine version would shoot flames out of the tail and would run a 1/4 mile in 12 seconds at 117 mph. This is somewhat faster than the original which allegedly could only do 45 mph, did you ever notice all that sped up film? I bet the Scalextric one is nearly as fast.