Skip to main content
  • International Sites
    • International
    • Australia
    • Brazil
    • Canada
    • China
    • CHINA (ENGLISH)
    • France
    • Germany
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • JAPAN (ENGLISH)
    • Korea
    • Korea (ENGLISH)
    • Mexico
    • Russia
    • Southeast Asia
    • United Kingdom
  • Magazines
    • Art+Auction

      Modern Painters

  • Blogs
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Art Prices
  • Gallery Guide
  • Art Sites
  • Boutique
  • Blouin News
  • Log in

    Log in

    |Forgot your password?
    OR
    Sign up

    Not a member?

    Create an Account
Home
  • Visual Arts
    • Visual Arts Home
    • Contemporary Art
    • Old Masters/Renaissance
    • Impressionism & Modern Art
    • Ancient Arts & Antiques
    • Traditional Arts
    • Museums
    • Reviews
    • Columnists
    • Fairs
    • Features
  • Performing Arts
    • Performing Arts Home
    • Film
    • Music
    • Theater & Dance
    • Television
    • Events
    • Blogs
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Architecture & Design
    • Architecture & Design Home
    • Design
    • Architecture
  • Artists
  • Art Prices
  • Market News
    • Market News Home
    • Fairs
    • Auctions
    • Collecting
    • Galleries
    • Art & Crime
    • ART PRICES
  • Lifestyle
    • Lifestyle Home
    • ART Parties/Scene
    • Fashion
    • Food & Wine
    • Jewelry & Watches
    • Autos & Boats
  • Fashion
  • Events
  • Travel
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Homepage RSS
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • foursquare
  • tumblr
 
International Edition
May 22, 2013 Last Updated: 2:30:AM EDT

Battle of the Star Cars: The Original Batmobile vs. Clark Gable’s Gullwing

English

Battle of the Star Cars: The Original Batmobile vs. Clark Gable’s Gullwing

  • Email
  • Print
  • Tweet
  • Pin It
Courtesy Jana DeHart
The original Batmobile from the 1960s television series
by Chris Shott, BLOUIN ARTINFO
Published: January 25, 2013
Clark Gable's 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL/Courtesy Barrett-Jackson

Not all winged things are exactly alike, but George Barris’s original “Batmobile” has a lot in common with Clark Gable’s 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe.

Both classic cars come from the same era. Like Gable’s purdy-bird Benz, Barris’s tricked-out Lincoln Futura concept car, famously driven to points of absurdity by caped crusader Adam West in the campy ’60s TV series, carries the same model year: 1955.

 

Both cars come loaded with star-power: one is made exclusively for Hollywood, the other is made exclusively of Hollywood.

And last week both sold for millions of dollars during the massive Barrett-Jackson collector car auction in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Here’s how the two glitzy gas-guzzlers stacked up:

Gable’s Gullwing, a six-cylinder, four-speed silver fox with cherry lipstick interiors, which the big-screen stud picked up for several thousand dollars more than a half century ago, fetched an appropriately cool $2.035 million.

Meanwhile, Barris’s Batmobile, an eight-cylinder, three-speed funky black factory concept, which the celebrated car customizer bought for just a buck and later spent $15,000 to equip with made-for-TV gadgets and gimmicks, rang up at more than twice the price of its off-screen contemporary — a whopping $4.62 million. (Note: both figures include hefty buyer’s commissions above and beyond the sum when the hammer sounded.)

What put the Batmobile over the top? A bonus offer of outerwear, it turned out.

When the pace of bids began to slow after the $2 million mark, the Bat car’s creator and longtime owner grabbed the auctioneer’s microphone. “Whoever gets the Batmobile, I want to give my Batman coat, off my chest, off my body — here!” Barris shouted, stripping off his shiny personalized track jacket emblazoned with the TV show logo.

The promise of additional memorabilia seemed to pay off. The final sales price even surpassed the sky-high $4.1 million figure paid at a London auction for the original Aston Martin DB5 from the James Bond film “Goldfinger.”

The winning bidder on the Batmobile, an Arizona native who identified himself during the live cable TV broadcast as (no joke) Rick Champagne, invoked childhood nostalgia as justification for his extravagant purchase.

Asked if he planned to keep the Batmobile in his garage, the man with the bubbly name replied, “Actually, I might put in it my living room.”

Ideally, it would go right beside the TV.

Go to top ↑
Lifestyle, Autos & Boats, Barrett-Jackson, Car Auctions, Chris Shott
Share:
  • Tweet
  • Email to a Friend

Comments

0 Comments
+ Add Yours
Log in or register to post comments
Oldest first Newest first

Most Popular

  • This Month
  • This Year
  • Why "Rediscovered Artists" Are the Art Market's New Darlings
  • Christie's Rakes In a Half-Billion Dollars, Setting a Record
  • Barbara Kruger Responds to Supreme Bitchiness
  • How Many Artists Have Traded Work With "Anthony"?
  • Donald Judd's Children Prepare His Art-Filled Studio
  • Sotheby's $230-Million Imp-Mod Sale [VIDEO]
  • Tracey Emin on Her New Show and Transcending Her YBA Days
  • What to Look Forward to at Frieze New York 2013
  • The 100 Most Iconic Artworks of the Last 5 Years
  • The 50 Most Exciting Art Collectors Under 50 (Part 1)
  • Back to School Guide: The 10 MFA Programs That Give You the Most Bang For Your Buck
  • Basquiat's Ex-Girlfriend Reveals Major Trove of Unseen Works
  • Facebook Censors Pompidou's Gerhard Richter Nude, Fueling Fight Over "Institutional Puritanism"

Popular on Facebook

Editorial

  • Visual Arts
  • Performing Arts
  • Architecture & Design
  • Artists
  • Art Prices
  • Market News
  • Lifestyle
  • Fashion
  • Events
  • Travel

Products

  • Magazines
  • Gallery Guide
  • Blouin Art Sales Index
  • Somogy
  • Art Sites
  • Art Jobs

Louise Blouin Media

  • About Us
  • Subscriptions
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Louise Blouin Foundation
  • RSS
Copyright © 2013 All rights reserved. Use of the site constitutes agreement with our Privacy Policy and User Agreement.