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As she did with Batman Forever, Barbara Ling re-invented the wheels and the arsenals with all-new designs for the vehicles and gadgets for Batman & Robin. For the dazzling new vehicles, Ling collaborated, as in the past, with a team of illustrators, and the conceptual work once again became reality through a company called TFX.

Ling couldn't wait to get back to the drawing board in an attempt to once more heighten the Batmobile's beauty and impact. "I was particularly glad to be able to have one more crack at the Batmobile," confirms Ling. "I think it should always feel like half a block is coming at you when you see the Batmobile approach, and the size of the vehicle has to take on unnatural proportions for that to really happen.

"Ultimately, I felt like the Batmobile in the last film looked just too small on camera. This time I wanted its shape to be a giant version of some of the early roadster sports cars, like the Jaguar D types or the Delahane 165. I also wanted the Batmobile, this time, to be a convertible, which had always excited me about the early comic-book Batmobile."

"It takes a lot of trial and error to develop and build a fully working car that's nearly 29 feet long," adds TFX's Allen Pike. "The Batmobile has very long fenders, blue illuminated hubcaps with the Bat Emblem cut right into the 22-inch prototype tires, and pulsating through the side grated ribs are blue LEDs (digital electronic displays) and alternating yellow and red lights. There's a revolving turbine that projects light and is specially synchronized to camera, which creates a remarkable animated effect on film. And the Batmobile has a custom-built chassis, ground-up fabrication, using race car components, including the Chevy 380 engine, which can accelerate the vehicle to about 140 miles per hour.

Batmobile: Designed for speed and maneuverability.

The Batmobile has been recorded to reach speeds of up to 230 MPH on open road, and with afterburner thrust can attain speeds in excess of 350 MPH.

The aeronomical chassis design and "T" axis wheel base provide the vehicle counter-balance gyro metric stability, allowing for high velocity 90-degree turns at speeds greater than 70 MPH without losing momentum.

With a highly pressurized poly-alloy exterior, the vehicle remains lightweight while insuring maximum protection against artillery fire, laser technology, extreme temperature fluctuations, radiation exposure and high-impact explosions.

The vehicle's arsenal of weaponry and gadgets is controlled by an onboard voice-activated computer which surrounds the single-seat cockpit. From behind the wheel, the driver has access to a multifunctioning key command response system which delivers immediate weapon activation during attack and defensive procedures.

The Batmobile is equipped with dual-mount, subcarriage rocket launchers, front and rear grappling hooks, multipoint infrared and laser scan tracking units, anterior/posterior wheel-based axle bombs, catapult ejection seat, and disguised central carriage, which detaches to become an emergency road vehicle.

SPECS:
SIZE: 33 feet long, 5 feet high, 153" wheelbase
ENGINE: Chevy 350 ZZ3(off road racing motor)
TOP SPEED: As high as 350 mph with afterburner thrust; TFX road tested the Batmobile at 140 mph.
SPECIAL FEATURES: All new design; 22" prototype Goodyear tires with the BAt emblem embossed on the treads; single rear cockpit; independent suspension; illuminated blue hubcaps; pulsing chassis lights.
AFTERBURNER: Six flame columns produce a V-shaped exhaust pattern six feet long