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At Nationwide Auto Transportation, we treat every customer with the same care and respect, whether they are Batman or Superman fans. Although every customer is equally special, some cars truly stand out, such as the Batmobile. Yes, everybody knows what batman’s car is called, but namedropping is always good when you hang with superheroes, right?
We’ve shipped over a million cars—including some incredible luxury cars, interesting heavy equipment, and immaculate antique cars – in the 16+ years we’ve been in business, and we have learned that each brings its own challenges.
Transporting the Batmobile | It was a hero’s job
That’s why, when our unsuspecting logistics dispatcher asked for the details and dimensions of a specific car when a client requested a free car shipping quote, he first thought someone was pranking him. After all “Can you ship the Batmobile?” is not one of the questions potential clients typically ask…
After all, who owns the Batmobile? But it was in fact a customer who wanted the Batmobile shipped from Las Vegas Nevada to Oak Lawn Illinois.
It was an ordinary day in the office, which quickly turned extraordinary when the dispatcher ran into the CEO of Nationwide Auto Transportation, David Edri’s office, shouting “Someone wants us to ship the Batmobile! Can we do it?”
Everything’s impossible until somebody does it. – Batman
[Perhaps even the Auto Transporter 3000?]
Dvir knew that shipping the Batmobile would not only be an honor for the company, but also a great challenge, logistically. His team knows that he would never agree to ship a custom car without first being able to determine that the company had the experience and equipment to make a success of the shipment.
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SOMETIMES THE TRUTH ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH, SOMETIMES PEOPLE DESERVE MORE.– Batman, The Dark Knight
What was Batman’s first car? | Transporting the Batmobile
The owner of the 1989 Batmobile found Nationwide Auto Transportation through our online advertising. Following this it led him to the free auto shipping quotes page. Unlike his car’s previous owner, however, he was especially attracted to our 20% off deal on first shipments…
Okay wait… how much is a Batmobile worth? The original Batman car is probably worth around $140K. The most recent one, however, is well over $1 million. However, you could always follow the example set by Zac, an Australian who built his own street-legal Batmobile.
Several auto shipping companies were asked to transport the 1989 Batmobile. All of them had excuses or were unwilling to take the risk. Nationwide AT was the last hope for the new owner of the 1989 Batmobile.
Insider Secrets About Batman’s Car 1989 | Transporting the Batmobile
Batman’s first car, the vehicle which was used in the first Batman movie featuring Michael Keeton and directed by Tim Burton, was retired after its appearance in Batman, although it continues to draw a strong following as one of the most popular Batmobiles of all time.
The history of Batman’s car
Wondering who built Batman’s car in the movie? Anton Furst was the production designer for the Batmobile and Gotham City, and he wanted the car to combine classic aesthetics with brute force. Of course, that’s nothing like Batman’s new car (did you see Batman’s car in Batman vs Superman?), but it still is pretty epic for a classic car…
What was Batman’s first car?
Wondering what kind of car was the original Batmobile? It has a custom built body and wheels. The car is powered by a Chevy V8 and two Impala chassis spliced together. Of course, the Batmobile wouldn’t be so special without its many potent gadgets.
What car is the Batmobile?
Wondering what car was the original Batmobile? We’ll tell you. The 1989 Batmobile is a 1955 Lincoln Futura that was a superficially modified concept show car.
From Browning machine guns to spherical bombs, shin breakers, and disc launchers, it’s truly unique. One of the main features of the Batmobile is the fact that it has a reconfigurable central fuselage. This is to help it fit through narrow openings. This sounds like a helpful feature when it comes to auto shipping. That is until you discover that once this Bat missile mode is employed, much of the car is destroyed. It has to be rebuilt…
And that’s probably why all the other auto transport companies declined the request to ship the Batmobile.
It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me. – Batman
1989 Batmobile Shipping Logistics
When you think how fast is the Batmobile, you might wonder why the owner didn’t just drive it to its new location. The new owner of the Batmobile wanted the car shipped, as it’s obviously a very special car, and not very new. With a custom-built 1989 car, driving such a long distance could lead to mechanical problems. Also, the owner would not want to put 1752,2 miles of unnecessary mileage on it. Since custom cars often have a preferential mechanic, it’s almost always preferred to ship it, rather than drive it.
Learn how to maintain your car for performance here!
Transporting the Batmobile
In terms of our shipping service, we tried as best as we could to keep our fanfare in check, and handled it as we would any other car that we would move. However, it goes without saying that there were certain shipping logistics that had to be covered prior to transporting the Batmobile.
BATMAN HAS NO LIMITS. – Bruce Wayne, The Dark Knight
Thankfully, Dvir’s past experience in operating wreck trucks and running flatbeds, on top of more than a decade of experience running Nationwide Auto Transportation, stood us in good stead. After a little research into the history of the Batmobile, he knew exactly what needed to be done to make it happen, and turned his focus to the main challenges of transporting the Batmobile.
Project: Ship the Batmobile
As mentioned earlier, we needed to move the Batmobile from Nevada to Illinois. Therefore, we had to find a suitable truck on which to transport the Batmobile.
Also, Dvir recommended terminal to terminal transportation rather than our usual door-to-door shipping, as we needed a loading dock to load and offload the Batmobile.
We usually recommend that expensive custom cars be shipped using enclosed auto transportation trailers. However, due to the width of the Batmobile (and that pesky and destructive—but very cool—Batmissile mode), we could not fit it in an enclosed container on a flatbed. Combined with the link height and low clearance, the best logistical arrangement was to place it on the upper level of an open carrier from the loading deck.
After explaining to the client just how safe open carrier transport was—let’s be honest, even our blemish-free damage-free track record was enough for this valuable vehicle…—our client gave us the go ahead to ship the Batmobile on an open truck.
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The Batmobile could not be loaded at a high angle, because the rear could be damaged from the bottom. The upper level was best suited to the link of the car, so that’s where we loaded it using specialized equipment.
Hitting the Road with the Batmobile
As you can imagine, the 1989 Batmobile drew attention from everyone we encountered on the road. We had to call the customer on the first day to warn him of a potential delay in our estimated delivery time.
Because people asked for pictures and followed us for miles, we had to increase our security levels to protect the Batmobile. Everyone was very well-behaved though.
Thankfully, the new owner of the 1989 Batmobile was gracious, and said we could take our time. At last, we delivered the vehicle safely and without any damage within four days, as per our initial estimate. This was a huge relief to our driving team. The owner was satisfied a to finally have the Batmobile in his possession. What’s happened to the Batmobile since our star struck encounter? According to whateverhappened, John Peters (the producer of the show) keeps one of the two in his Malibu garage. The other one is kept in the Peterson Automotive Museum.
Our superhero driver was relieved the shipment went off without a hitch, and returned to his ordinary life. Or he might have taken Catwoman out for a night on the town.
Who knows what he does in his spare time? 😉
