Batmobile still a cool ride

NEW YORK, April 25 (UPI) -- Forty-plus years after it first appeared, the car Batman drove in the campy 1960s TV series still is a cool ride that attracts a crowd, as it did in New York.

"It's the wickedest car on the planet," said Rich Sheppard, who was among those who lined the sidewalk to get a look at the Batmobile. "I used to see it in my dreams."

The fictitious crimefighter's car was an attention-getter for Soundstation, a Mariners Harbor car audio shop in Staten Island Tuesday, the Staten Island (N.Y.) Advance reported. Also on hand was George Barris, the well-known car customizer who created the Batmobile in 1966. Barris was given $15,000 to build the original Batmobile. He took the body of a Lincoln Futura and in three weeks added the domed windshield and gadgets such as smoke blowers, nail spreaders and oil squirters.

"It's absolutely dynamite," said Andy Perillo, the guy who is usually behind the wheel when the car hits the road. "You go down the street and everybody yells and screams."

Perillo said the actor who played Batman on the TV show almost crashed the car. "Adam West doesn't drive very well," he said.