Sunday, July 24, 2011

FROM FANTASY TO REAL LIFE: THE WORLD'S FIRST ROAD-LEGAL BATMOBILE

Source: Mail Online


It's a car that would make any man proud, including Batman.

An aspiring racing driver and Batman fanatic has created the world's first road-legal jet turbine powered Batmobile - which can reach speeds of 180mph.

Casey Putsch spent five months painstakingly piecing together the amazing replica car using everything from aerospace materials to polycarbonate.

But his favourite feature on the incredible bat car is a military spec turbine engine used in a drone helicopter by the Navy to drop torpedoes on enemy submarines.


The car, modelled on the famous drive in the 1989 film Batman Returns, is registered and insured for the street and unsurprisingly has turned a few heads.

Casey, 29, said: 'The car's greatest limitation for top speed is drag. It has really wide tyres and the Batmobile body has loads of inherent and parasitic drag with its design.

'My car's top speed is between 165mph and 180mph - although I'm not saying how I know it handles at high speed.

'The reaction I get is a mixture between complete shock and pure excitement.

'You could have a parking lot full of Veyrons, Aventadors, and McLarens and everyone would be looking at this car. I know from experience.


'It transcends the car world and breaks down the boundary between fiction and reality with people.

'When people see it, they are mesmerised - even little old ladies are getting their cell phones out for a picture and video.'

Casey, from Dublin in Ohio, USA, built the engine to power the rear wheels via a semi automatic transmission and is driven like any other conventional production car.

The Batmobile is considered the most extreme exotic car in the world - and his completely geared up to race.

And amazingly, Casey designed the whole car in his head - without using a computer or pen and paper to sketch out his ideas.

He now plans to take one of his car creations to the Indy racing circuit. He said: 'I can build almost anything. Hopefully with a bit of backing, I will make it all the way to Indy and bring home a 500 win'.

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