Latter-Day Bruce Wayne Lives His Dream
The Batcave’s location is one of Batman’s most closely guarded secrets – but it may be closer than the Joker or the Penguin might think.
Hidden in the misty hills of Mount Vision, in a non-descript garage just off 205, is the Batmobile – or rather, a near-perfect replica of the car from the 1966 TV show starring Adam West as the Caped Crusader.
“When I used to watch the show as a kid, I always wanted to see the car,” said owner Tim Dobler. “But they never showed it that much.”
He started fixing up cars in high school, souping up his 1969 Camaro and restoring his father’s antique pickup truck. “I always thought it would be cool to have that Batmobile, but I didn’t think it was possible” he said.
In 2007, he took to the Internet to see if he could make his childhood dream come true, and found Mark Racop at Fiberglass Freaks, the only officially licensed dealer of replica 1966 Batmobile parts.
But to start the project, he needed the right kind of car to build off of. “I needed a chassis with a 122-inch wheel base,” he said. “There are only a few that would fit that kind of body.”
He found a 1976 Lincoln Continental four-door at an estate sale in Little Falls. “With a car that old, you have to just hope the frame is in good shape,” he said. “This one was, and it was almost too nice a car to destroy.”
The fiberglass body went on in three stages, with reinforced steel underneath to support the weight. A propane tank in the trunk allows him to rev up the “jet engine” in the back, and the brakes are hooked into LED lights on three chrome pipes for a futuristic vibe. “That’s just something I threw in there,” he said.
But it’s not just the outside of the car that has the classic superhero look – inside, the ride is complete with the Bat-Phone, the Bat Emergency Turn Lever and the Bat-Scope, which serves as the rearview camera.
And in March, after seven years of building, he took the Batmobile out for the first spin on 205. “I was nervous,” he said. “But when I got out there, I had cars pulling over to let me pass so they could look at the whole thing, people getting out to take photos, big packs of motorcycle guys giving me thumbs up. The best is when you drive past a family and the kid’s in the back pointing and grinning. Everybody thinks it’s cool.”
He even has the costume to complete the whole look. “One of these nights I’ll get dressed up and go driving!” he said. “There’s a new hero in town!”
Evildoers, beware indeed.
