We're no bigger fans of the Caped Crusader than most, though we do enjoy the action, and, most of all, the over-the-top vehicles. Gordon Murray's latest imagining of the Batmobile, produced for the Batman Live World Arena Tour, however, disappoints us immensely.
Looking somewhat like the Jetsons-obsesssed afternoon scrawlings of an elementary school student, the car displays none of the brash awesomeness of the Tumbler vehicle piloted in The Dark Knight and Batman Begins. Where, for instance, is the armor? Or the missile launcher?
Even looking back to other historic (some would say "proper") Batmobiles, the Murray design falls short. The forward cabin and jet-inspired fuselage try to draw in some of the be-finned looks of the long-hooded classics, but ultimately fail to present anything even moderately bat-like.
Instead, it's based around F1 designs, with a new type of "breathing" carbon fiber invented by Murray, powered by a hydrogen fuel cell (though it shoots fire/simulated fire from its tailpipe). To say we expected more from the designer of the McLaren F1 is an understatement. But then, Murray's recent T25 city car and T27 electric car pack a whole lot of awkward into small packages, too.
See for yourself in the video below, but don't say we didn't warn you.
