Bravo, Batman! Batmobile fetches $4.62 million
Hollywood car creator George Barris arrives in the TV Batmobile for the Friars of Beverly Hills celebrity fundraiser dinner gala presenting their Life Achievement Award to Barris at the Friars of Beverly Hills on June 17, 2006 in Beverly Hills, California.
Batman's still got it.
The original Batmobile from the 1960s television show fetched $4.62 million at the Barrett-Jackson classic car auction in Scottsdale, Arizona on Saturday night.
The one-of-a-kind, 19-feet-long 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car with a bubble top was designed by Los Angeles-based car customizing legend George Barris, the Associated Press reported.
It also features one-of-a-kind add-ons like a Batphone — naturally — as well as an oil squirter, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Barris, the car's owner, said he was "pleased" with the sale.
But who is the lucky (crazy?) buyer, you ask?
That would be Rick Champagne, a logistics company executive from the Phoenix area, the Los Angeles Times reported.
He told interviewers that he'd his eye on the Batmobile “ever since I was a kid. I had a toy model of it,” but that the inspiration for the purchase came from his female companion, the LA Times reported.
He plans to keep the car in his living room.
The Barrett-Jackson auction is considered the second-most important classic car auction series in the United States, after Pebble Beach's in August, Dietrich Hatlapa, founder and managing director of Historic Automobile Group International told Bloomberg Businessweek.
The Batmobile wasn't the only big sale on Saturday: two Ferraris sold for more than $8 million each, and Lamborghinis, Porsches, Bugattis and Aston Martins were also up for bidding.
More from GlobalPost:
Without federal support, local stations, especially in rural and underserved areas, face deep cuts or even closure. Vital public service alerts, news, storytelling, and programming like The World will be impacted. The World has weathered many storms, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to being your trusted source for human-centered international news, shared with integrity and care. We believe public media is about truth and access for all. As an independent, nonprofit newsroom, we aren’t controlled by billionaire owners or corporations. We are sustained by listeners like you.
Now more than ever, we need your help to support our global reporting work and power the future of The World.