1967 "Long tail fin, taillight half filled-in, one nose filled-in" |
The distinguishing features of this version include a filled-in right nostril on the bat nose and taillights that are half-filled in, longer tail fin tips.
The Car
I'm guessing on the year this version appeared. Previously, the paint and
tow hook had been changed, but this version represents the first change to
the actual body molding. That this is not a very common version. At first,
it appears identical to the 1967 version (bat hubs, pulsating exhaust, etc.),
but the body molding was changed in the area of the bat nose and tail lights.
The more obvious change is that the recess for the tail lights was not as
deep as before (but it also was not filled in completely as it was in the
next version). Less obvious is the fact that the right "nostril"
was filled in although the left nostril was still recessed. No doubt this
was a mistake and probably explains why this version is not that common.
Body changes before were temporary ones without changing the mould, they tried to adjust it instead before. They tried to modify the existing mould instead of replacing it. The no towhook Batmobile only appeared in 1966, but was still available in shops a couple of years after this. Very few of thiese had a nostril filled in!! The towhook version then had taillights recessed and one nostril filled in, when both noses should have been filled in, and you will find some with no noses filled in but with taillights recessed. These were all simply moulding errors that occurred over the 5 years until the mould was replaced. Its like with the passenger door filled in part, something just simply got stuck in the mould and wasn't noticed. It could happen any number of times, especially with the nose as it was hardly noticeable on the mould. I couldn't give you an idea on the figures though, But my guess would be that its rarer to find a Batmobile with a towhook with no noses filled in, but thats a complete guess due to the amount of errors that did occur with this 1967-72 model. The short tips though with the taillights filled in and both noses is the rarest of the bat-hubcap models.
The Box
1970 window box. Although this box itself shows a 1966 copyright, I call this
a 1970 box because it almost certainly came out at the same time as the second
version Gift Set 3 box which has a 1970 copyright on it. Both of these boxes
show a similar revised color scheme and new style Corgi logo. Although I suspect
a lot of Batmobiles were sold in this box, it is fairly rare now as people
apparently didn't like saving it as much as the older fold-out display type.
The rear of this box shows a picture of Batman apparently about to be run
over by a Batmobile speeding out of the Batcave. An advantage of this box
and all other window boxes is that it displays your car and protects it from
dust. This box included the same envelope, purple & black instructions,
feature leaflet, "Batman" badge, and red missiles as the earlier
versions.
Very later “Bat-Hub” wheeled Batmobile (1972) and very earlier 1973 “8 spoke” wheeled Batmobile have thinner bat-emblems like on the Red Tyres.
But you can find the bat-emblems on the very last 1967-72 Batmobile with a
noticeably thinner on one side, and a thicker bat-emblems on the other side,
and perhaps with two thinner bat-emblems.
On the last 1967-72 Batmobile : left side with a thicker “bat-emblems" and right side with a thinner “bat-emblems".