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Description

Super Friends Batmobile - 1973

The Super Friends animated TV show ran from 1973-1985. The show was based on the Justice League, and featured a team of familiar Superheroes, including Batman and Robin. As part of this show, we saw several different animated interpretations of the Batmobile. Most of these “new” vehicles looked a lot like the famous “Barris Batmobile” which had been so prominently featured in the 1966 live-action Batman TV series.

The new animated Batmobiles shared a number of similar features: a “double bubble” canopy, bat-fins, and a rocket booster in the back. Clearly, the Barris Batmobile had set certain expectations for Batman’s car. Batmobiles simply “had to” have these familiar popular features, and the talented artists at Hanna-Barbera were happy to oblige.

But the animated Batmobiles tended to be greatly simplified when compared to the Barris Batmobile. Gone were the red stripes, gone was the “Gumball machine” rotating beacon light, gone were the 3 chrome-plated rocket launchers, and the bat-shaped aluminum spinners on the wheels, and gone were many of the complex contours of the Barris Batmobile.

But the really important features were still there, and many fans may have even imagined that the Super Friends Batmobile was the same Batmobile that they remembered from the old 1966 live-action series. Perhaps it had just been “simplified” to make it easier to draw in animation.

Later however, we saw some new features. One of the new Batmobiles even had 4 doors and a back seat! So, with that in mind, fans (like me) eventually came to accept that these vehicles weren’t the same Batmobile that we all remembered from the Adam West series. Instead, these were Batman’s new “updated” rides. The new vehicles simply had a lot in common with the original Barris Batmobile.

With that in mind, I started wondering what these new updated vehicles might look like in live-action. Since Super Friends was an animated show, we only ever got to see the new Batmobile rendered in a rather simplified animated style.

I began to wonder, “If you could see this car in person, at a car show, what would it look like?”

So, this series of images is meant to depict one of the Super Friends Batmobiles in a “semi-photo-realistic” style. I based this model on one of the original concept drawings for the first Super Friends Batmobile. I stayed pretty close to the original design. I only added a few details (like hood and trunk details) and some interior cockpit details just to give it a bit more believability as a real working vehicle.

If you’re a fan of Batmobiles, or if you have fond memories of Super Friends episodes from your youth, enjoy!

Description

Super Friends Batmobile - 1973

The Super Friends animated TV show ran from 1973-1985. The show was based on the Justice League, and featured a team of familiar Superheroes, including Batman and Robin. As part of this show, we saw several different animated interpretations of the Batmobile. Most of these “new” vehicles looked a lot like the famous “Barris Batmobile” which had been so prominently featured in the 1966 live-action Batman TV series.

The new animated Batmobiles shared a number of similar features: a “double bubble” canopy, bat-fins, and a rocket booster in the back. Clearly, the Barris Batmobile had set certain expectations for Batman’s car. Batmobiles simply “had to” have these familiar popular features, and the talented artists at Hanna-Barbera were happy to oblige.

But the animated Batmobiles tended to be greatly simplified when compared to the Barris Batmobile. Gone were the red stripes, gone was the “Gumball machine” rotating beacon light, gone were the 3 chrome-plated rocket launchers, and the bat-shaped aluminum spinners on the wheels, and gone were many of the complex contours of the Barris Batmobile.

But the really important features were still there, and many fans may have even imagined that the Super Friends Batmobile was the same Batmobile that they remembered from the old 1966 live-action series. Perhaps it had just been “simplified” to make it easier to draw in animation.

Later however, we saw some new features. One of the new Batmobiles even had 4 doors and a back seat! So, with that in mind, fans (like me) eventually came to accept that these vehicles weren’t the same Batmobile that we all remembered from the Adam West series. Instead, these were Batman’s new “updated” rides. The new vehicles simply had a lot in common with the original Barris Batmobile.

With that in mind, I started wondering what these new updated vehicles might look like in live-action. Since Super Friends was an animated show, we only ever got to see the new Batmobile rendered in a rather simplified animated style.

I began to wonder, “If you could see this car in person, at a car show, what would it look like?”

So, this series of images is meant to depict one of the Super Friends Batmobiles in a “semi-photo-realistic” style. I based this model on one of the original concept drawings for the first Super Friends Batmobile. I stayed pretty close to the original design. I only added a few details (like hood and trunk details) and some interior cockpit details just to give it a bit more believability as a real working vehicle.

If you’re a fan of Batmobiles, or if you have fond memories of Super Friends episodes from your youth, enjoy!