The "Tumbler" Bat-Tank from Batman Begins

[Mister E]

I found a sweet website with tons of Bat-Mobile historical info, and one really kicking page devoted to the "Tumbler" Bat-Tank from Batman Begins.

 

Here's the link:

 

http://www.batmobilehistory.com/2005-batmobile.php

 

 

"Tumbler" Batmobile Quick Stats

Overall Length:

15 feet

 

Overall width:

9 feet

 

Weight:

2.5 tons

 

Tires:

(2x) Hoosier racing tires (Front)

(4x) 44" Super Swamper tires (Rear)

 

Recorded Performance:

110MPH top speed

0-60MPH <6 seconds

6' Maximum vertical jump

30' Maximum horizontal jump

 

Engine:

350CID Chevrolet V8 (primary)

Rear-mounted jet engine

 

Weapons:

(2x) Forward-mounted machine guns

 

After an eight year hiatus, Batman has returned to the big screen for Batman Begins. Rather than a sequel or prequel to the previous Warner Brothers movies, Begins is considered a restart, effectively starting the Batman movie universe from scratch. Among the new ideas to appear in this movie is an all-new Batmobile.

 

After years of training, Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City ready to start cleaning out the criminal element. Recognizing that he needs materials to carry out his mission, he joins Lucius Fox in Wayne Enterprise's Applied Sciences division. Fox was placed in Applied Sciences as punishment, as the division is seen as a dead-end career track responsible for projects deemed too expensive or problematic for practical application. Bruce, on the other hand, sees the division as an opportunity to make use of these rejected projects, and put them to use as Batman. After reviewing the body armor, high-tension lines, and memory cloth, Bruce sees a set of tires poking out from under a tarp. Fox introduces him to the "Tumbler," an experimental bridging vehicle that never quite made it. The concept of the vehicle was simple: thanks to adjustable control surfaces and a jet engine, the Tumbler was capable of making rampless jumps to lay the basis for temporary bridges. The "bridge" part of the idea never panned out, so the whole project was scrapped and the prototype was mothballed.

 

Primary power comes from a 500-HP Chevy 350 V8 driving four 44" Super Swamper tires via titanium axles. The cabin seats a driver and one passenger, with a unique arrangement for the driver: for normal driving situations, the driver simply sits in the left seat. In "attack" mode, the driver's seat moves to the center of the car, and the driver is repositioned to lay face-down with his head in the center section between the front wheels. This serves two main purposes: first, it provides more substantial protection with the driver shielded by multiple layers of armor plating. Second, the prone position reduces the risk of injury a driver faces when making extreme driving maneuvers (stunt drivers are at risk of spine compression when doing jumps - laying down virtually eliminates this risk). In addition to performance and protection, the Batmobile is also capable of attack, with a pair of machine guns mounted in the nose of the car between the front wheels.

 

The Batmobile easily survives its adventures in Gotham City, even proving instrumental in stopping Ra's from destroying Gotham City. Time will tell if this Batmobile will appear again, or if will be replaced for the next Batman Movie. Despite the mixed reactions from fans on the design of the car, no one can deny that its performance has more than made up for any aesthetic drawbacks. Plus, despite the tank-like look of the new Batmobile, it's not entirely without a bat motif.

[Mister E]

Re: The "Tumbler" Bat-Tank from Batman Begins

 

If anyone has written up a version of the "Tumbler Bat-Tank" for HERO yet, it would be nice to see it here.

 

I'm probably going to build a knock-off clone for use in my own Campaign.

 

I hope people find this website as inspirational as I did.

 

Cheers,

 

~ Mister E