The Richard Williams Sports Special

[Mike Phillips]

The Richard Williams Sports Special (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/off-topic/31726-richard-williams-sports-special.html)

Note there's a difference between the word "Batmobile" and "Batman Car". This car has a DMV Title that says BATMANCAR and it was built before George Barris built his version of the Batmobile.


The other cool thing about this car is it was custom built, there's only one and it was lost for years and has now been re-discovered and put back on the road for the enjoyment of all car enthusiasts and especially fans of the iconic Batman series.



My friend Nate Trueman, founder of StarCarCentral.com (http://starcarcentral.com/) connected me with the current owner of Richard Williams Sports Special aka the Batman Car.

The owner is compiling the history of this car and sending me some of the background information which will be added to this thread.

Here's some pictures...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1010/1964Batmobile00.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1010/1964Batmobile01.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1010/1964Batmobile02.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1010/1964Batmobile03.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1010/1964Batmobile04.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1010/1964Batmobile05.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1010/1964Batmobile06.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1010/1964Batmobile08.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1010/1964Batmobile09.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1010/1964Batmobile10.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1010/1964Batmobile11.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1010/1964Batmobile12.jpg



1964 Batman Car
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXtuyKw2AI4]YouTube - Batmobile Lost 1964 -1966 - found and restored. Bob, and his daughter Alyse (playing Robin)[/video]


History behind the building of the 1964 Batman Car

Realizing Your Dream – The Richard Williams Sports Special (http://www.forgottenfiberglass.com/?p=7506)

Excerpt from the above



Epilogue:

When I asked him what happened to the car, he shared with me the following:

“I sold the car on the floor of that show in 1959 for $2600 and never saw the car again. The guy who bought it was one of my former school roommates – Norbert Borth – who actually had helped in small ways build the car.

The newspaper article showing my car in the show actually shows the owner and builder as “Norbert Borth” – but that’s because he had bought it at that time. I sold the car because I did what I had intended – I built my dream. And the money helped move my family back home to California”.

In the 1960’s, Richard went looking for the car and found that Norbert had moved and brought the car to Memphis Tennessee.

He had put a Chevrolet motor in it, but left it in an auto repair shop for repair and never picked it up. Unfortunately, the car was never seen again.

So for those out there who are looking for cars….the Richard Williams Special was last seen in the early 1960’s in Memphis, Tennessee.

Go get ‘em gang! But be sure and let us know what you find.




My comments...

The current car owner purchased this car in Tennessee and the car has a Tennessee Title and the car is titled as

BATMANCAR


More information to come...


:xyxthumbs:

[Mike Phillips]

The picture of the Batman car shown as the 1966 Batman Coloring Book in the link below is the above Richard Williams Sports Special aka The Batman Car


The History of the Batmobile (http://starcarcentral.wordpress.com/)


:)

[Mike Phillips]

This just in!



Mike;

Below is part of a letter wrote to Johnny Lightning, about the car before I knew it was the Richard Williams Special.

The man I got the Batmobile from has a collection of 200 plus cars, and he got it almost 20 years ago. He didn't recall a lot, and the previous owner has passed away. The only thing I got was the original comic book it debuted in, (I hear it is in many other comics besides the book have) and a few stories of it's days on the car show circuit in 1964 - 1966.

Since then I have spoken with a man who believes he has some photos from a 1965 Chicago car show it was at. There isn't a nut or bolt on this car newer than 1964, besides the wheels, and tires, (the originals were not on it when I got it, I purchased a set of Shelby KR-500 wheels that look proper on the car ), points, plugs, condenser, battery, and brake hydraulics.

There is no question of the circa of the build, and looking at the comics, there is no question of the intent of the builder.

I have kept this car a bit of a secret, do to the fact I believe a great deal of the cars value is, it is still "undiscovered".

I'm a muscle car guy, and I believe this car needs to be debuted by a real bat fanatic. So I have not even shown it, even though I have had numerous invitations. The one invite I'm considering is a photo shoot with a 1966, and a Keaton Batmobile, from Nate Truman, founder of Star Car Central, in Hollywood.

The Tennessee Title reads "BATMANCAR" as the maker. It is the 1964 Batmobile, but in 1966 when George Barris made over the Futura, with rockets, and fire, nobody wanted to pay to see a 1958 corvette in drag, so it faded into obscurity.



That was just sent to me by the current owner...

More information to come as I get it...


:xyxthumbs:

[Mike Phillips]

I hope everyone enjoys the great pictures the current owner sent to me. If I get any more I'll add them to this thread.

As a fan of early, one-only cars, I think the history behind this car is pretty cool...


:xyxthumbs:

[tuscarora dave]

That's a super cool car!! I am glad that they let the song play out in the video too!! That's one of my favorites. Thanks for posting this Mike.

[C. Charles Hahn]

Very interesting! Being that this was based on a 1958 Corvette, I find the shape of the custom air scoops on the front fenders particularly intriguing. Wonder if this car in some way served as design inspiration for the C5? Note the same basic curvature and angle to the scoop opening and shape:

http://www.dieselupload.com/files/1/corvette-C5-11.jpg

[FUNX650]

Very interesting! Being that this was based on a 1958 Corvette, I find the shape of the custom air scoops on the front fenders particularly intriguing. Wonder if this car in some way served as design inspiration for the C5? Note the same basic curvature and angle to the scoop opening and shape:

http://www.dieselupload.com/files/1/corvette-C5-11.jpg

Perhaps. John Cafaro would have been 10-12 years old at the time of the old Batman tv series; and, being that he fell in love with the 1965 Mako Shark Corvette concept car could have influenced his design of the C5.