Bob Dullam built a full size working replica of The Tumbler from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. The whole thing was built from scratch without blueprints, using only photo references found online. The total cost is an estimated $50,000-$70,000. He did the project for fun, and does not plan to sell. “You wouldn’t want to sell this if you had one, believe me,” Bob writes
“It’s a once in a lifetime project. I did this alone, no help. I have found with other things in the past that if you have help, the help often does not get it right, and you have to do it over 95% of the time, plus I like to work alone. All parts are scratch built, cept’ tires, rims, brakes, engine, etc.. meaning all bodyparts, brackets, just about everything external on the car.”
There is still more work to do. The interior is not finished, but Bob promises that it will look as close to the interior shots from Batman Begins as possible.
“It feels like climbing Mt. Everest half way up, you start to wounder if this wasn’t a big mistake. Then you realize that you are too far to quit. In fact, quitting is now not an option. Because if you do quit, you will have set a precedence about yourself, and all up to this point will become a huge disaster. You get a little farther, now you look down and view is breathtaking. So on an emotional level this car is giving back to you, what you gave to it. It makes you start to think that, If you can do this, then you can make anything happen if you really want to. It revitalizes faith in yourself. This is not supposed to be possible. Not at this social/economic level.”
Up next, Bob wants to build a Batpod. From what I understand, the bike from the movie was actually impracticably engineered, and only one guy in the world was able to ride it. Hopefully Bob decides to modify the original designs a bit for usability. And yes, he’s already begun work on a Batsuit. So if you see a vigilante dressed as Batman riding the tumbler on the nightly news, we know it’s just Bob.
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