1959 Cadillac

Was just doing some research on Cadillac’s from the 1950’s and found an interesting note. The Bat-mobile was almost a Cadillac. Here is the excerpt from Wikipedia.

“In late 1965 20th Century Fox Television and William Dozier‘s Greenway Productions contracted renowned Hollywood car customizer Dean Jeffries to design and build a “Batmobile” for their upcoming Batman TV series. He started customizing a 1959 Cadillac, but when the studio wanted the program on the air in January 1966, and therefore filming sooner than he could provide the car, Jeffries was paid off, and the project went to Barris.^[12] Barris had somehow already come into possession of the Futura, which had been parked behind his Hollywood shop for several years. With only three weeks to finish the Batmobile (although in recent years Jeffries says that his car was dropped because he was told it was needed in “a week and a half”^[13], he was quoted in 1988 as saying “three weeks”^[14] as well), Barris decided that, rather than building a car from scratch, it would be relatively easy to transform the distinctive Futura into the famous crime-fighting vehicle. Design work was conducted by Herb Grasse, working as an associate designer for Barris.

Barris hired Bill Cushenberry to do the metal modifications to the car and its conversion into the Batmobile was completed in just three weeks, at a reported cost of US$30,000. Barris retained ownership of the car and leased it back to 20th Century Fox and Greenway Productions for use in the series. The estimated 1966 value of the Barris Batmobile was about $125,000, but today it is estimated to be worth at least US$2 million.^[15]”

Here is the whole story on The Batmobile

Since we are talking about 1959 Cadillac’s here is one for sale in the St. Louis area. This 1959 Cadillac for sale sure is a beauty. Some of the details:

1959 Cadillac Coupe DeVille in stunning blue paint and blue interior. The original 390 CID V8 has been rebuilt with just 5,000 miles since and she runs like new! Options include: A/C, AM/FM radio, cloth interior, power windows, power locks, power brakes, power steering, white wall radial tires, Autronic Eye, and more! These cars are famous for their big fins and double bullet taillights! Don’t miss out on this very nice Caddy at a good price! Please, call 800-213-1616 or 618-271-3000 for additional information.

I hope you have a great weekend and a safe July 4th.