A Vietnamese architect and artist has created the first-ever fully drivable electric vehicle based on Batman's iconic Batmobile.
23-year-old Nguyen Dac Chung, founder of Hanoi-based cosplay company Macro Studios, was inspired to build the replica after watching Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy. "It's like an off-road tank," Nguyen said in a statement, citing its bold, utilitarian design as the reason he chose the Tumbler as the version of the Batmobile he wanted to recreate. According to Nguyen, his "fully operational, tactical" version of the Tumbler is able to reach speeds of up to 65 miles per hour.
With his cosplay studio, Nguyen's ambitions always extended beyond the usual purview of the craft. "While other cosplay businesses make costumes and accessories, I wanted to take things to the next level and blow people's minds," he said. The artist not only took inspiration from the Dark Knight trilogy's Batmobile but used the original blueprints from the films. Featuring a steel frame, some of the vehicle's parts -- made from a mixture of ABS, composite, and carbon fiber -- were handcrafted while others were 3D printed by Nguyen and his team of designers, mechanics and engineers. The Tumbler took two years and cost $27,000 to produce.
Nguyen's Batmobile doesn't just look like a tactical vehicle -- it has the features for it too. The car boasts automatic, remote-controlled hydraulic doors and four cameras that offer a near 360 view around its body. It's also surprisingly light overall, coming in at roughly 1,300 pounds. The vehicle is currently on display at automotive gallery VAN DARYL, which uploaded a promo video detailing the Batmobile's features and showing it in action on a racetrack.
The Tumbler was introduced in 2005's Batman Begins as part of an abandoned military trial. In the film, Lucius Fox shows Bruce Wayne a tan camo version of the vehicle -- after a thrilling test drive, Lucius asks Bruce what he thinks. "Does it come in black?" Bruce replies with a smile, cementing the Tumbler in Batman lore as perhaps the most iconic Batmobile to date.
According to VAN DARYL founder Daryl Villanueva, while Nguyen's original electric Tumbler is on gallery display, the artist has also made nine replicas. Seven of those have been already sold for $35,000 apiece.
The Dark Knight trilogy is currently streaming on HBO Max, while Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are both also available on Netflix.