Thursday, November 29, 2012

1950s BATMOBILE




An omission from Corgi's first wave of models was the long-lived 1950s Batmobile, which first appeared in Detective Comics 156 (Feb 1950), in a story appropriately titled 'The Batmobile of 1950'. In this story, Batman is injured when he crashes the 1940s Batmobile. While recuperating, he and Robin design and build a brand new car with modern features including Radar, CCTV and a mobile crime lab. While the new car was of a futuristic design, with a bubble canopy and a large rear fin, it seems to be inspired by contemporary Studebakers.

The Corgi model is very faithful to the car in the comic with correct lines, accurate bat head on the grille and detailed interior. The working feature is rather strange, as the back of the cockpit, including the fin, is rear-hinged and lifts up to reveal the crime lab. I suppose this was just devised by Corgi in order to show off the detailed interior, because the real car had normal side doors for entry and exit-and the shut lines are visible on the model. The car is painted a metallic blue and has rather bulbous, yellow painted headlights.

Another version was released in the 'Silver Age II' set, accompanied by a 1950 Jokermobile. This one was painted black and looked much more effective.--Diecast Collector

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