MarkShields.com: The 1989 Keaton Batman Batmobile Replica

Bio Journal Movies Photography Portals Wishlist

The 1989 Keaton Batmobile Replica

125K

95K

98K

125K

111K

134K

121K

130K

126K

125K

128K

73K

This unique and eye-catching ''replicar'' was built in the early 1990s by fellow super genius Randy Hecht. The donor car was formerly a salvaged 1978 Corvette brought back from the dead. I realize that a lot of Corvette purists and enthusiasts have flipped out in the past at the thought of such a drastic modification. ''What a waste of a perfectly good Corvette'' is something I hear all the time. Thanks for your heartfelt concern, guys, but it's still a Corvette at heart. The external structure has been altered using a lot of custom fiberglass work based off a Kenner Batmobile toy. This isn't a kit car, either. Randy worked with custom fiberglass body specialists to handcraft this one of a kind gem. In a past life Randy had made extensive appearances as a certain caped crusader and this was his ''work'' car. In fact, if you were watching E! back when the BATMAN AND ROBIN premiere was being aired live you might have caught a glimpse of fully costumed Randy riding along in the BATMO2.

So, how did I acquire such a special car? Keep scrolling...
Batmobile Corvette Conversion

A friend emailed me a link to PHOTO-CLASSIFIEDS.NET where the car was up for sale back in February 2001. Never heard of that site, you say? Neither had I. Lucky break for me in that the entire population of the United States was unaware that such a cool thing existed *and* was for sale. I bookmarked the site and would check on the car's availability from time to time. Finally, in the late summer of 2001 I figured I'd waited long enough and made Randy an offer which he accepted. I was already planning to fly out to California in late August to attend the premiere of the Mark Wahblerg film ROCK STAR. Click here to see photos of that trip which include a few taken of the Batmobile at Randy's house on the day I bought the car. I had the car shipped to my house in Houston, TX by train and it arrived there in one piece with the exception of a hub cap that had gone missing. The car is now in my private storage area (the Bat Cave) in Houston, although I'm planning to ship it to Minneapolis in 2009.

So, what's it like to drive a car that so closely resembles the one from Tim Burton's BATMAN film? Two words: super distracting. The car is instantly recognized which oftentimes results in hazardous driving as fellow drivers will weave in and out of traffic to get a good look (and sometimes a photo or two). The car has achieved some noteriety on the web in recent years and was rather viciously Farked in 2006. For every compliment there are at least 3 insults. I also seem to get attributed to (and sometimes blamed for) the creation of the car even though I had nothing to do with that. Does anybody ever read the FAQ? I do have plans to make some changes to the car which include renovating the interior, replacing the plastic and wooden bat symbol hub cabs with something more permanent, fixing the electrical system issue that's causing my headlights to blink, getting a new paint job to remove ugly bubbling and imperfections, replacing missing parts that aren't and a proper window tinting. No, I do not have plans to sell the car, nor do I plan to allow anyone to create kits from the car. In the past I've facetiously offered the car for sale to anyone with $50,000 cash on hand. Strangely enough there have been no takers! Still want one? You're in luck because Randy has offered his services if you'd like to have a new one created. in case you have any questions, comments or a pile of unused money to throw in his general direction.

I believe that's all I've got. Need another hit of some Batmobile? Watch the video below...

Bio Journal Movies Photography Portals Wishlist