from:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/goss...p-173665c.html
Holy headlights! Batman has a new ride, and it's all bat-pimped out.
The new 2005 Batmobile, unveiled at the Javits Center yesterday, looks something like a cross between a Lamborghini and an armadillo with a jet-pack.
It cost millions to design and produce, and it actually works, its creators at Warner Bros. said.
"It has to get up to 220 mph to get airborne, but then it can jump 20, 30, maybe 40 feet," said Charles Roven, producer of the upcoming Batman movie.
Forty feet?
"We haven't filmed it jumping yet. That scene will be coming up in the next few weeks," Roven said.
Warner Bros. hired a 24-hour security detail to ensure the new Batmobile doesn't fall into the wrong hands, say those of the Penguin, Riddler or any of Gotham's real-life criminal masterminds.
Guard Frank Carbone wore a pinky ring and a scowl as he protected the Batmobile's powerful jet engine, radar-evading electric controls and oversized "super swamper" tires.
"It's much cooler than I expected," said Robert Emmer, 19, a student at the School of Visual Arts.
"It looks like a black toad," said Chris Tegeler, 38. "I'd like to see it jump something, maybe the Intrepid."
The upcoming Batman movie, called "Batman Begins," stars Christian Bale of "American Psycho" and will hit theaters next summer. The big-budget Warner Bros. flick examines Bruce Wayne's transformation into Batman after his parents are slain.
Studio execs said they weren't able to run live demonstrations yesterday because they had to drain the Batmobile's jet fuel for shipment.
Plus, said Warner Bros. President Dan Romanelli, "We might get a ticket. And I don't think it has air conditioning."
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