Lincoln Futura - how an innovative 50s concept was turned into the Batmobile

By the beginning of the second half of the 50s, the design and engineering potential of automobile companies had reached a new level. This especially concerned the American continent, primarily the so-called. Detroit's Big Three. This was made possible thanks to the introduction of innovations in the form of the unique futuristic Thunderbolt and the unusual designs that followed it.


Riding this wave, management at the Dearborn-based Ford Motor Company constantly encouraged its design departments not to be afraid of bold and fresh ideas. Moreover, it was proposed to embody them in the form of drawings on paper, creating breathtaking concepts.


So one of the stylists, when he had free time, went to the nearest beach to enjoy his favorite pastime - diving. During such a dive, an outdoor enthusiast named Schmidt experienced considerable shock when he came face to face with a white shark. But his professional acumen prevailed over ordinary human panic, he was nearby and admired the graceful queen of the waters until she finally decided to swim away.

Mimicking the features of an ocean predator

The meeting was not in vain and, returning to the office, he quickly took up his drawing supplies. Inspired by what he saw, the talented engineer quickly prepared a concept sketch with aggressive lines and tail fins reminiscent of the image of a majestic shark.

The obtained result aroused keen interest among the company's senior management. It all ended with the author being given the famous John Najjar as a partner, and the task was the need to create a new Lincoln show car. As a result, despite the efforts of all Lincoln-Mercury designers, Bill Schmidt’s sketch was recognized as the most promising.


The creative tandem, having received a small group of workers as assistants, created a clay prototype of the future concept in just a few months. Of course, it was noticeably different from the first sketches, but still retained a number of the stylist’s initial ideas, inspired by the image of a great white shark:

✅ general outlines
✅ front radiator grille
✅ rear fins

Very soon, the idea, embodied in flexible material, received the green light, and specialists from sunny Italy were entrusted with giving it the final realistic look. To do this, several design elements of the future car were sent to the Apennines at once:

✅ chassis prototype
✅ 6-liter Y-twin V8 engine
✅ three-speed automatic transmission Turbo Drive

The well-known local coachbuilder Carrozzeria Ghia was chosen to fulfill the order. The company's specialists hand-assembled the complex structure (including the double canopy), connecting it to the chassis and transmission. After this, an exquisite pearly white finish was applied, reminiscent of the body color of the inhabitants of the water element.

To achieve the most realistic effect, the craftsmen used real fish scales. After thorough grinding, it was mixed with a special paint, and later applied to the body of the concept. When all the necessary work was completed, the finished car was sent back to Detroit.



By the way, the development of a unique design cost almost 250 thousand dollars, which today is the equivalent of approx. 2,8 million. But all these expenses were quickly forgotten after the public and the specialized press enthusiastically accepted the Detroit novelty. Futura never left the pages of prestigious American automobile magazines and almost immediately became available to the shocked public in the form of a scale model.


Despite such widespread excitement, no one planned for the unusual car to go into production. However, it was created for a completely different purpose: to draw attention to the Lincoln corporation and show its technical capabilities in all its glory. Therefore, after spending several years on the sites of various car dealerships, the Futura was simply discontinued and transferred to the FoMoCo warehouse. But her career was far from over. In the next decade, the car was still extremely popular, which led to an unexpected turn in its fortunes. The MGM film studio decided to borrow the technique for one of its films, after turning it into a more visually attractive chic concept.

As the star of the screen and the Batmobile.

Slightly updated and given a completely different color (the original pale colors would have looked bad on blue screens), the car made its debut in a big movie. His first experience was the 1959 romantic comedy “It Started with a Kiss,” where he starred in bright red with Glenn Ford and Debbie Reynolds.

After this, the outwardly brighter Futura was able to participate in several commercials for the creator company. Now it seemed that her mission was completed and it was time to retire. But suddenly the acting career of the unusual car took off sharply.


In 1965, William Dozier Productions emerged and decided to use the former concept car as a proposed "crime fighter". That's how he ended up in the premiere of the Batman TV show. Hollywood's "Customs King" George Barris turned the Futura into the famous #1 TV Batmobile, making it one of the most important cars in film history for many.

Mr. Barris showed in practice that it was not in vain that he received his famous nickname. In just three weeks, under his leadership, the car in storage was subjected to dramatic changes:

✅ cleaned of dust
✅ all functions have been restored
✅ modified to give the features of a bat, not a shark

This required another radical change of color. Now the futuristic concept has a black gloss finish with red accents. The work, done in record time, made it possible not to disrupt the entire process: the hero was completely ready to film the debut episode. Having appeared on the big screens in 1966, the car experienced a new wave of universal popularity and fame. And, most importantly, it became clear that each new color makes an already interesting specimen more and more visually attractive.

Replicas of a popular concept

Of course, the on-screen glory of cars is very short-lived. In the new seasons, completely different, no less breathtaking “Batmobiles” appeared. But none of them have ever matched the popularity of the Lincoln Futura. Additionally, although it never went into mass production itself, some of its design cues were used in production models such as the first-generation Lincoln Premiere and the second-generation Lincoln Capri.

The unusual design, ahead of its time, enormous popularity and lack of serial history led to its consequences. Over the years, several attempts have been made to produce replicas of the Lincoln Futura. Some of them, made from fiberglass back in the second half of the 60s, were offered as an alternative for annoying collectors.


Others appeared towards the end of the 80s, receiving a bright red color scheme, as opposed to the original, which was converted into the Batmobile. At some point, everything became a mass production, and Bob Butts offered his copies of the 1955 Lincoln Futura concept to those interested. They even created a special company for this: Fantasy Cars Ranch in El Cajon (California). All this confirmed that the car, which appeared seven decades ago, left its indelible mark on world history.