Vehicle Description
Inspired by the 1940s and 1950s DC Comics batmobile In 1960 23yr
old Forrest Robinson and his friend Len Perham began work on the
"Batmobile" in the barn of the Robinson family farm in New England.
Car was built using the framework of a 1956 Oldsmobile 88 and a 324
Rocket engine. Replacing the old body of the Oldsmobile with a
custom designed fiberglass body. The car design consisted of a
dorsal fin in the back, bat-nose front-end and pocket sliding
doors. Completed in 1963 predating even the Lincoln that was used
in the classic 1960's TV show, Robinson left it unpainted expect
for a coat of white primer and had planned on building a
glass-domed roof, but never got around to it due to being sent
overseas by the Army. Upon returning to the US in 1966, Batmania
had taken over and the car drew interest from ALL Star Dairies and
their affiliate Green Acres Ice Cream (a DC Comic licensee), leased
it for a promotional campaign. The car was painted in the official
Batman colors badged with official Batman labels and toured the
Eastern US as "Batman's Batmobile" until late 1966, around the time
when replicas of the George Barris TV Batmobile were built and made
available for touring. Upon the return of the car to Robinson, he
painted it a space age silver and continued to drive it around
until he sold it in 1967. In 2008, the car was discovered by Bobby
Smith of Swanzey, NH and would change hands several times before in
landed in the hands of the Toy Car Exchange LLC in 2013. Toy Car
Exchange LLC brought the car to expert car restorer Mario Borbon of
Borbon Fabrications in Sacramento California. Borbon restored the
car to pristine condition, retaining the original frame, parts and
egine in a year long process.
