Although George Barris' Lincoln Futura concept car achieved iconic status on the 1966 Batman television series, it wasn't the first Batmobile. That honor apparently goes to a customized 1956 Oldsmobile 88 built in a barn in New Hampshire and later sanctioned by DC Comics. And now it's up for sale.

According to Heritage Auctions, 23-year-old Forrest Robinson began conceiving the car in 1960 -- simply to drive around himself - and then enlisted his friend Len Perham to help build it. Their Batmobile, originally painted "space-age silver," was completed in 1963, two years before Barris began work on the car for the TV show.

DC Comics licensee All Star Dairies leased Robinson's Batmobile for a promotional campaign, repainted it and sent it on a tour of the Eastern United States as "Batman's Batmobile." The vehicle was returned in late 1966 to Robinson, who sold it for $200.

It was left abandoned in a field for nearly 50 years before it was discovered in 2008 and passed through a few hands, including auto historian George Albright, before it ended up in early 2013 with Toy Car Exchange. There, the Batmobile was restored to pristine condition.Billed as the "earliest known officially licensed"

Batmobile, it goes up for auction Dec. 6 in Dallas. The opening bid is $90,000, a far cry from the $4.62 million paid in January 2013 for the original Batmobile from the 1966 TV show.

(via Jalopnik, Supercompressor)