1940s BATMOBILE

The second new Corgi vehicle was a big improvement over the previous model, although was a rather curious choice. This one was an open roadster with a long bonnet and six exhaust manifolds on each side. The reason it was such a strange car to use was because it only appeared once, in Detective Comics 37 (March 1940), and then only in one panel. It is a much better interpretation than the 1930s Batmobile; while it didn't look like any particular marque of car, it had the correct proportions of a real roadster of this type. It was finished in gunmetal grey, with an opening bonnet and a good Batman figure at the wheel, with a flowing cape.

This vehicle was not referred to as the Batmobile; the first car to be called this appeared in Detactive Comics 48 (Feb 1941). It was a red convertible similar to a Lincoln Zephyr, with a bat hood ornament, although Corgi did not model this car.--Diecast Collector