Original Batmobile fetches $4.2m at auction

London - Batman's original ride, as used by Adam West and Burt Ward in the classic 1960s TV series, has sold for 4.2million dollars at a US auction.

The car was bought by Rick Champagne, a logistics company owner from Phoenix, Arizona, the BBC reported.

The 56-year-old, who was just 10 when the high-camp TV series began in 1966, said it was a dream come true.

The Batmobile design was based on a 1955 Lincoln Futura, a concept car built in Italy by the Ford Motor Company.

It was the first time that car had come up for public sale since it was bought in 1965 by car-customiser George Barris, who transformed it in 15 days, at the cost of 15,000 dollars, into the superhero's famous vehicle.

The car comes equipped with a V-8 engine, a car phone and the ability to deploy oil, smoke and nails to thwart villains – not to mention twin rear parachutes to enable quick Bat turns.

Mr Barris told reporters at the auction that the car had to be a star on its own and it became one.