The world of comics wouldn’t be the same without the appearance of the automotive world through its first years, a time in which they were inspired by real-life designs so that our superheroes could move and save the city. Perhaps within all the nostalgia, Lincoln may be a brand that barely comes up to our mind, but the company does hold an iconic appearance on its name, and it was for none other than the Batman himself by the hand of the Lincoln Futura model, oh! and the car of course: the first Batmobile.

The Lincoln Futura’s story starts with the creativity of John Najjar and William M Schmid, Ford’s designers at the time. They created this model just as a concept that came to life after a series of processes, one of them being held at Turin, Italy by Ghia, a recognized manufacturer of auto parts that produced its bodywork and, oversaw the hammering of the car panels on top of wood logs by hand to give the car its characteristic stingray shape.

Sometime later, the Lincoln Futura starred for the first on the big screen in the movie Started with a Kiss (1959), and curiously, this car ended up in the hands of George Barris, who years later would design the pop culture icon best known as the Batmobile.

In 1966, the executives of a distinguished TV channel asked George to design the Batman’s automobile in only 3 weeks. Little did they know that the design was going to be ready at the moment they needed it and fulfilled with a creativity and originality they could have not foreseen.

George’s proposal began with the prime Batmobile from the 40’s comics, which was actually inspired by the Lincoln Zephyr as he said, “It was Batman’s automobile with the face of a bat on the front of the Lincoln Zephyr”. So, if you didn't know, the inspiration for the first real-life Batmobile was a combination between Lincoln Futura and Lincoln Zephyr.

The results were amazing and one of the most famous and beloved cars was designed! It was equipped with defensive functions just like dripping oil to be released on the streets or delivering spikes to strike out the tires of his enemies. This design was the pioneer for the following designs of the famous Batmobile.

George’s final design integrated mods that kept the scenic of the Lincoln Futura, though it no longer looked like a stingray but like a bat.

Finally, four replicas of the first prototype were manufactured for different purposes:

• One for action scenes that required stunts.
• One for acceleration races on the road.
• One for exhibition.
• And the last one to have a spare… just in case.

Without hesitation, the biggest contribution from Lincoln to the comics and its universe is that it was the starting point for the Batmobiles.