Batmobile
Golden Age of Comic Books
Batman is shown driving a red car in his debut story in Detective Comics #27. The red car was never mentioned by name as the Batmobile. Although the Batplane was introduced in Detective Comics #31, the name "Batmobile" was not applied to Batman's automobile until Detective Comics #48 (February 1941). The car's design evolved in early Batman stories. It became a "specially built high-powered auto" by Detective Comics #30, and in Batman) #5 (March 1941), it had a bat hood ornament and a darker exterior color. The predominant designs settled on a large, dark-colored body and bat-like accessories such as large tailfins scalloped to resemble a bat's wings.
Silver Age of Comic Books
The 1966–1968 television series Batman) was so popular that its campy humor and its version of Batmobile were imported into Batman's comics. The iconic television Batmobile was a superficially modified concept car, the decade-old Lincoln Futura, owned by auto customizer George Barris), whose shop did the work. When the series was canceled in 1968, the comic books became darker and more serious. The comics' version of Batman abandoned that version of the Batmobile. Its replacement was a simpler model with a stylized bat's head silhouette decal on the hood being the only decoration of note. The 1960s TV style Batmobile still appears from time to time in the comic books, most recently in Detective Comics #850 and in Batman Confidential.
Bronze Age of Comic Books
In the Bronze Age of Comic Books, the source of the cars was explained in The Untold Legend of the Batman as the work of stunt driver Jack Edison. Edison had volunteered to personally construct Batmobiles for Batman after being rescued from a burning wreck.
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