Batmobile

It was originally a Lincoln, a concept car from a motor show in the late Fifties which was converted to be a Batmobile for the Sixties Adam West TV series by the same bloke, Dean Jeffries, who made the Monkeemobile. If you Google both Batmobile and Monkeemobile there is an awful lot of information on the net about both vehicles.

It is an iconic Corgi this one, one of their greatest successes which ranks alongside the James Bond Aston as an achievement. The chain-cutter blade, the missiles fired from the tubes at the back and the afterburner are such fantastic details. Inside the car though is a Batphone!

The car was introduced in 1966. Original cars had cast gold wheels with bat logos and no tow hook, the cast recesses for the tail lamps and air intakes above the grille are deeper too in the early models.. They were matt or gloss black. From 1967 to 1972 they acquired a tow hook and could have gold or silver cast wheels. In 1973 Whizzwheels arrived, at first narrow and chromed, from 1974 the Whizzwheels were wider and black plastic.

The early cars with no tow hook are the most sought after, matt black being preferred over gloss. A complete boxed car with all the collateral and leaflets is worth serious money, never mind they sold in millions. Next most preferable are the early chrome Whizzwheels followed by cast wheels cars with the tow hook and bringing up the rear on value are plastic Whizzwheels cars, but these are still worth good money. Even wrecked basket cases of any version are worth selling, if only for spares.

GS3 Batmobile & Batboat on Trailer

If Batmobiles are in demand then the Batboat sets are really and truly in demand, a nice boxed one with all the bits will be very expensive indeed. The contents of the sets were updated as the models making up the sets were updated, so you will see them with bat wheels and Whizz Wheels and with different versions of the boat, generally the earlier the version, the better the price.

107 Batboat on Trailer

This is the boat our heroes use when they take to the water, designed to be towed behind the Batmobile, it is a version of the Glastron boat found in a gift set (GS36) with the Oldsmobile Toronado. The Batboat was released as a solo piece in November 1967, early releases have a tinplate design riveted to the tail fin, cast hubs and a towbar in the box to go on the Batmobile, later releases have Whizzwheels on the trailer and the fin is red plastic. As with everything Batman in the world of Corgi Toys, values are high for all versions. The Batboat and trailer was finally deleted in 1981.