The fins :

The fins were shortened because it was considered dangerous. The car to start with was meant as a collectors piece, but when it became obvious that a lot of parents were buying one for their children, they shortened them. Imagine an early Batmobile with long sharp fins in the face !!! OUCH !!! The rear and nose were also filled in for the same reasons, because it was considered too sharp on little fingers !! Kids have a tendency to try to put their fingers in little holes !! I've seen and own a lot of Batmobiles that have one nose filled in, fins long, rear half filled in and so on. The rear and the fins were at first the only ones to be considered very dangerous, one was half filled in the other shortened. When this proved inadequate, they filled in completely the back piece. With the nose, on a lot they simply missed the one side ! Later versions show that they corrected this problem. This was also deemed too sharp for young children, and had to be filled in. These body changes occurred very very late in the red hub no towhook version. Someone also stupidly used the rejected parts (one nose filled in) and used the new style body shape (both noses filled in and tail lights filled) before the new red tyred (which it was intended for) because they'd run out of the old style. So if you can find a red hubbed Batmobile with both noses filled in and the tail lights filled in you have a very rare type Batmobile on your hands !!

They used the rejected parts on the no towhook version, and when they'd corrected the problem it was the red tyred version. Both nostrils were meant to be filled in from the start of the towhook version, but by the time they'd made them they realised that both noses weren't filled in on all the models. Some had both nostrils and taillights filled in, (Very few!!!) most didn't. The taillights were also meant to be filled in completely from the start of the red hub towhook version, but this didn't work and only half filled them in. Since the cars were already sprayed they couldn't correct this problem, and just used them. This occurred sporadically over a period of 5 years, it didn't occur once over the 5 years but many times. At first these were rejected, but since there were so many of them they used them. The numbers to get to the shops were tight at this time, they had to produce so many Batmobiles per day. To correct it they would have to respray the model again, and since it was such a small problem and hardly noticeable they used them. When the Batmobile changed its body shape (change the tail tips ) however in 1972, they corrected this problem once and for all by changing the moulds themselves. What they used before were just temporary solutions, but since they had to change the tips and axle posts to accomodate the red tyred they took the opportunity to correct all the problems. The cost to corgi to have corrected this before would have been massive, since it was an expensive model to produce. If they had left the parts as rejected, you may have also found that no shops would have any Batmobiles to sell. Since it was a popular model, corgi weren't prepared to let this happen.

They changed the moulds to accomodate the changes to the wheels. and adjusted these at the same time. 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.

As i say, with regards to the noses its pot luck. These mistakes with one nose filled in and no noses filled in occurred throughout the 5 year period. Its very hard to say which is the rarer on these. This was simply a moulding error which could have occurred any number of times on the towhook model. The models i own of the towhook model is split 50-50 on these. some have one nose filled in, others have no noses filled in. Some have taillights recessed, others don't. I know there were very very few of the no towhook model with a nose filled in. When it became clear to corgi that a number of children were having these bought for them, they did away, or tried to, do away with sharp edges or places where little fingers can go in, so they used an adaptor to the mould. This prevented the metal forming at certain points of the car, but it didn't always work.