Good call on the front wheel opening and you did nail the tire’s overall diameter; just the wheel rims are too small. I think the CAD had the wheel/tire diameter in proportion but both needed to be enlarged. The rear wheel opening is obviously pinching in on the tire, too, but I didn’t see it as clearly then as I do now that I’ve built the kit and photographed it to match the original. Too bad the factory didn’t take that simple step before going into production.

The stuff on top of the driver’s side of the dash also seems more defined in the CAD image than my kit’s part did. The CAD image looks like a fresh bar of soap with sharp corners and crisp letters and the part in my kit looks like the same bar after about 20 showers. There were no discernible bezels around the compass or the transmission indicator lights.

Like they say, hindsight is 20/20…

I can’t wait for this one!!!

http://1966batvehicles.yuku.com/topic/3969

The #1 Batmobile, was originally built as the 1955 Lincoln Futura showcar. Built in Turin, Italy by coachbuilder Ghia in 1954 the Futura was mounted on a then “experimental” chassis. Hess and Eisenhardt of Cincinnati provided the chassis. As limousine and ambulance builders they were accustomed to building chassis for unwieldy cars. They built the Chassis under the Kennedy limo as well as the Mark 2 hardtop-retractable, experimental car. H and E had six 1953 Lincoln chassis, all modified to what would become Lincoln’s standard chassis for 1955 and up. Two of the six chassis were to be used for the Mark 2 project but one of the planned cars was scrubbed due to budgetary constraints. The second chassis was sold back to lincoln for seventeen thousand dollars and the Futura was built on it. There were tubular steel cross members added to the chassis for strength (at Hess and Eisenhardt)but other than that the Batmobile has pretty much a 1955-56 Lincoln Premier chassis. Looking at the proto-photos, that’s just what they’ve done. I have some pics of the #1 cars chassis and they are close enough to appease this perfectionist!

Will that realistic chassis have the original Lincoln Futura engine or the later, swapped in Ford FE 390? Either way is a good answer to me but I’m still curious. I guess the Lincoln engine would be a slightly better answer since I don’t think it’s ever been done in 1:25 but there are loads of FEs.

The glue kit will come with a realistic chassis. We have done our best to incorporate eyewitness reports, the consensus history of the car and comparable period specific Lincoln vehicle chassis’ to create as close to real life as we could. No photos of the underside of the car from the era exist.

Were the wheels resized, too, or just the tires? Was this done arbitrarily based on “looks right” or done accurately to 1/25 scale?

Will the chassis of the glue kit be true to the real Lincoln concept car or be a fantasy chassis featuring a jet engine as seen on the snap mock-up?