Corgi Batmobile web site

Tous les changements sur la voiture (sur les boîtes et les bateaux) au cours des années étaient soit des erreurs, soit imposés dans le cadre de la réduction des coûts de fabrication.

Il est courant de trouver les premières Batmobile avec des suspensions cassées ou d’autres dommages, comme sur le pare-brise. Ces premières Batmobile étaient transportées dans l’usine à la main ce qui provoqua beaucoup de dommages. Puisque les Batmobile ont déjà été rivetées et que Corgi n'a aucun atelier de réparation, elles étaient quand même vendues si les dommages n'étaient pas trop graves.

C’est pour cela que les premières Batmobile pouvaient être trouvées avec le pare-brise endommagé (fissures) ou la suspension cassée d'un côté. Elles ont également pu être endommagées pendant le transport ou même dans le magasin ! !

Puisque les boîtes n'ont pas été scellées, il n'était pas rare pour les personnes qui étaient dans les magasins de sortir les fusées ou même Robin tandis que personne ne regardait ! !

J'ai repéré beaucoup de Batmobile endommagées dans les magasins quand j'étais plus jeune, avec des pièces absentes, ou des pièces cassées.

This is where all the confusion starts really, thanks to sellers selling them in any batmobile box they can find. But the mistake a lot of them make is they think Corgi sold any vehicle in any box. Corgi, trust me, weren't that daft.

For example, one only needs to look at the batboat for example. There were no crossover boxes with these, why not??? The orange fin was never sold in the card box, and the tin fin never in the window box. Corgi made them to numbers when one model was finished they changed the box.

Significant design changes were always followed with a box change. Of course, there exists the possibilty that one or two could have crossed over, but not in the numbers people talk about, or sell at shows or even on ebay.

The batboat tin fin for example with national periodical on the bottom had to have been sold in the card box, once the tin fins were done then they changed the box.

The same would have been true for the wide wheeled batmobile, the red tyred, the 73-76 edition.

Now, yes, because of the base there exists the possibility that the clear and the purple with national periodical on the base did cross over into the 73-76, but only these two, and if it did it was very very very late on.

I never witnessed any of the cross overs mentioned during my time, and in every example that i've seen MINT in the box and never opened at all (still with the wrap cellophane on) have i ever seen a crossover edition.

Every 73-76 edition ive seen always had the blue, purple or clear in with the 8 spoke wheels, i have never seen a 76 whizzwheels example. The same goes for the wide wheel, i have never seen one of these either in the 76-79 box and still sealed.

The US for example, had loads and loads of both of these models in about 1989 still mint sealed in the box and never opened, and none of them were crossovers. Ive found, through experience, that sellers sell the cars in whatever box they can find at the time (73 editions in 76 boxes for example but it had blue glass, balde tyres and still had the instruction envelope in there, which you know these boxes never had them included).

Its important to remember, that a lot of sellers have tampered with these for years now, and when one person buys a car in the wrong box they become convinced its genuine and in the right box.

Sellers, especially at the conventions, always spin a lot of old pony, and are very good at it!!!. I had one trying to convince me the Robin figure he had in his car was genuine, yet it was an OBVIOUS repro. He was either blind to the mistake, or he knew. Who he ended up selling it to though is probably right now convinced that the Robin figure he has is genuine, and is telling others that all the genuine ones are repro!!!

Box type 1 - 66-70 Card box with inner card display plinth, used for all Batmobiles up to 1970.

Box type 2 - 70-73 First window box, light blue and yellow, contained at first the red hubs Batmobile with towhook (with a gold beacon cage not silver), and later contained the red tyred Batmobile. Had Batman on the back with the Batmobile speeding towards him. First box to have " the right is reserved to amend specifications or colours" on the bottom. Looks like Corgi were thinking ahead at this time, and this basically gave them the right to use what they felt like in case of factory errors, including the red wheels and glass colours . Subsequent boxes had this apart from the last. This box on the inner flap also had " for spare tyres ask for no 1456" which was in reference to the red hub Batmobile that was in this box to start with, so if you have this on your flap and a red tyred car in it, you do not have a genuine red tyred box. Later versions of this box for the red tyred didn't have this in Corgi removed it straight away to avoid complaints. This was included for the red hubs on the inner flap because of a lot of complaints about the tyres splitting, and Corgi gave them replacements free, so to stop losing money they changed the wheels.

1972 "Long tail fin, taillight half filled-in, two noses filled-in, long slot"

1972 "Short tail fin, taillight filled-in, two noses filled-in"

The yellow/blue box for Red Tyres had is the front with 267 on the top left, doesn't have the spare tyres info. Doesn't have "ROCKET FIRING" to the back top and some word are different. In inside flap has written on it has CARTON REGISTERED DESIGN No.939584, and more importantly it "patent application No.3396/69" (this is for the ® Whizzwheels). This is written on the inner flap on the other side of the box, not the same side that has "secret instructions under platform".

Box type 3 - 73-76 Window box, dark blue and yellow with a pic of james bonds buggy on the back. This box contained the deep dish 8 spoke Batmobiles (aqua, clear or purple canopy). There is some debate as to whether this contained the red tyred car. I personally never saw it contain the red tyred car, or later 12 spoke whizzwheels. I suspect due to the scarcity of the previous box, that the red tyred crossover has been manufactured by sellers.

This box contained 12 spoke whizzwheels Batmobile (clear or purple canopy), with or without national periodical on the bottom.

It definitely didn't contain the 12 spoke wheels light blue canopy with national periodical on the bottom.

Box type 4 - 76-79 Window box, dark blue and yellow,with a little pic of Batman in the corner, and sloping inner plinth. The back had a pic of the Batmobile on the back, and a diagram of how to fire the rockets on the bottom.

These boxes contained the 12 spoke whizzwheels Batmobile (light blue canopy with national periodical, clear or purple canopy only with national periodical).

There are 4 different versions of this box, all with some different printed words on the back top right corner. Also, last versions of this box simply had Corgi on the front in single case letters, as opposed to capital lettering on the rest. All 3 versions of this box were the first boxes " for 3 years and over" on the front. All of these definitely had Robin in, or at least were meant to. It wasn't uncommon to find that he'd fell out of the car into the box, or he'd simply been robbed out of the car, along with the missiles usually. The easiest way was to just tip the box up, and wiggle it and you'd find that Robin just falls out. Since the boxes weren't sealed it was quite an easy thing to do. This is why the Batboat came with Batman and Robin tied together with a piece of elastic, but no-one thought to do it with the car !! Because of Robins size, he was lost very easily so i guess people really didn't want to buy the car again, or at least the parents lol !!! This Robin, along with the later pink one, are the hardest and the rarest to find today.

First box : 1976 - 1978 - With logo "CORGI"
Last box : 1979 - With logo "corgi" in single case letters, as opposed to capital lettering

Box type 5 - 79-81 Window box, dark blue and yellow, non detachable header card. This box contained the wide wheels only, and was the last Batmobile to incorporate Robin (who was made of a pink plastic). The header card showed a smiling batman whilst the back he looked stern. No matter what is said elsewhere, this car DEFINITELY had Robin, i bought this version in the box when i was younger, and still own it today. This was definitely the last version to contain the Robin figure though.

Box type 6 - 81-83 window box, Black yellow and red, with detachable header card and no Robin figure. The header card itself showed you how to fire the rockets, so if it didn't have one, you'd have to guess !! My local Woolworths were full of these without the header cards, and piled on top of each other, causing in many cases split cellophane !! There were 2 types of this box. The first had a red plinth inside, the next had a yellow plinth.

This Batmobile was also available as a Woolworths exclusive with the junior Batmobile, in what is now known as the duo pack.

Box type 7 - 83 window box, this box is different to the others of this type, as its actually dated 1983. The top also differs. Normally, the lines go straight up on the top of the box, whilst this one they go diagonally, bending inwards. This is the very last issue box from corgi, as they went bust this year. Its not very well known about this box, as a lot of sellers sell the red black and yellow as all being last issue, whilst in reality this one is. Any with 1983 on the outside of the box is last issue.

The last box had a date on the outside of the box which read "the mettoyTMCo plc Swansea, Great Britain(c 1983)

It seems to me though, apart from the very first box change (which was done so you could see the car instead of mr shopkeeper having to keep taking the car out of the box to show you) that all the box changes occurred when the car itself had changed in some major way, so as to get more people buying the car again. Most of the wheel changes coincide with a box change, so it wouldn't surprise me if this was the case. (unfortunately, i didn't ask about the box changes apart from the first). The car was intended as a collectors piece, not a toy, which is what the first box designers had in mind when they designed it. They changed the box to allow you to display your car in the box without gathering dust, as there was no protection with just the inner plinth display, and also it helped sell the product as you could now see it instead of asking mr shopkeeper (who was very busy) to open it.

1967-70 GS3 box type 1 - red hub towhook Batmobile with tin fin Batboat, both vehicles containing Batman and Robin, instructions set included (even though they're printed on the box). These sets were displayed on a yellow plastic tray which didn't hold the vehicles in place very well, so it wasn't uncommon to find damage to either or both vehicles. If you turned it upside down ooooops that was the end of that. Hence, following sets had a styrofoam block cut around the shape of the vehicles to hold them in place and prevent accidental damage.

1970-72 GS3 box type 2 - Red tyred Batmobile and red hubbed Batmobile were both available in this box along with a tin fin Batboat. The box was light blue and yellow, and both vehicles contained Batman and Robin. First window box gift set. On both inner flaps either side it read "For spare tyres ask for Batmobile no 1456 and trailer 1457". Again, as with the single box, the red tyred Batmobile that appeared in this gift set never had this on the flap, so if you have a red tyred car with this on the flap, you do not have a genuine red tyred box. This was meant for the red hubs Batmobile ONLY. Boxes for the red tyred Batmobile and Batboat just had "For spare tyres ask for trailer no 1457" because for obvious reasons you couldn't get spare tyres for the red tyred, because there was no easy way to change them in comparison to the red hubbed Batmobile.

1973-76 GS3 box type 3 - Black wheeled deep dish 8 spoke wheels Batmobile (aqua, clear or purple canopy) with a tin fin aqua Batboat. Both vehicles still retained Batman and Robin. I have seen versions on the net that contain the red tyred Batmobile. I never saw this available in the shops, and i suspect due to the scarcity of the previous box that this has been manufactured by sellers. Dark blue and yellow box.

1973-76 GS3 box type 3 - 12 spoke whizzwheels Batmobile (clear or purple canopy), with or without national periodical on the bottom, with a tin fin Batboat with clear or purple canopy. Only Batmobile still retained Batman and Robin.

It definitely didn't contain the 12 spoke wheels light blue canopy with national periodical on the bottom.

1976-79 GS3 box type 4 - 12 spoke whizzwheels Batmobile (light blue canopy with national periodical, clear or purple canopy only with national periodical), Batboat was orange fin, and now only the Batmobile contained Batman and Robin. No instructions envelope was included in this last version of the double pack. Curiously, catalogues displayed the Batmobile and Batboat as both having figures. If you look carefully though, they are using their individual numbers, (c267 and c107) not the gift set number.

It appears to me that sometimes the 1979 wide whizzwheel car may have been sold in this set, but it's wrong box !

First box : 1976 - 1978 - With logo "CORGI"
Last box : 1979 - With logo "corgi" in single case letters, as opposed to capital lettering

1976-79 GS40 box type 1 - 12 spoke whizzwheels Batmobile (light blue canopy), orange fin Batboat (with no Batman and Robin) and for the first time the Batcopter was included. This was a long box with header card showing a pic of all the vehicles on the back. Only rockets were included.

It appears to me that sometimes the 1979 wide whizzwheel car may have been sold in this set, but it's wrong box !

First box : 1976 - 1978 - With "NEW" and "BATCOPTER ONLY Made to Corgi specifications in Hong Kong", Logo "CORGI"
Last box : 1979 - Without "NEW", Logo "corgi" in single case letters, as opposed to capital lettering

1979-81 GS40 box type 2 - Wide wheeled Batmobile with Batman and Robin, orange fin Batboat (with no Batman and Robin) and the Batcopter. This was what i call a flat pack box, with the car and boat along the bottom, with the Batcopter in the top right corner. Only rockets included, and this was the last version of the gift sets.

It appears to me that sometimes the 1976 whizzwheel car may have been sold in this set and at other times, the wide whizzwheel car may have been sold in this set, but it's wrong box !

1982 GS1360 - This was a box very much like the last Batmobile box, and it contained the wide wheeled Batmobile with only Batman, and the Corgi junior Batmobile. Only rockets were included.

The only versions sold (apart from body design changes, nose filled in, shorter fins at the back etc) i have listed below, and they are all genuine too !!!

1966 Corgi Batmobile matt black, ran for 2 months only, exactly the same as the 66-67 version, apart from Robin and the paint was matt black This was due to the designers viewing the car before George Barris completed it, and when they viewed the car it hadn't been glossed, only primed. Corgi ran without the red stripes because it would have to be done by hand, and too many mistakes couild have occurred, like paint runs, and then they'd have to re-paint them. Plus, since it was a factory, too much time would have been consumed doing this, and made the car a lot harder to purchase, as this would have pushed the numbers available in shops considerably down. It would also have made the car a lot more expensive. They ran with orange seats because the car in all black would have looked too dull, and since they weren't going to do the seats black, they didnt bother with the red pinstripe on the seats either. The blade at the front was Corgis idea, simply because they couldn't do the battering ram which was on the car in the series. That came from underneath, so what Corgi did was use the scanner that popped up on the tv series as a button for the blade instead, which came out of the bodywork. Batmobile in capital letters on the bottom of the car.

The aerial on the first matt black Batmobile were slightly transparent, you can look the light through.

After the aerial changed from silver. Early matt black have a slightly transparent aerial, i don't know if the later matt black have or not the silver aerial. I see many matt black in photos with silver aerial but i can't tell if it's genuine ou repainted car !!!

1966-67 Corgi Batmobile gloss black - ran for a year only, no towhook aqua glass only, pulsating flame, red bat hubs, silver beacon cage, Batman and Robin, instructions envelope containing red or yellow rockets, badge, special features leaflet Batmobile in capital letters on the bottom of the car. This car is easily found anywhere today, for a lot more money though !!!

1967-72 Corgi Batmobile gloss black - ran for 5 years, with a towhook, different shades of aqua glass, pulsating flame, red bathubs, pulsating flame, silver beacon cage, Batman and Robin, instructions envelope containing the same as above. Batman was with a grey body in all these early versions (but in 1970 he changed to blue and beacon changed to gold which coincided with the box change). This was the last model to have the red bat hubs, and it was changed because a lot of people claimed that the tyres kept breaking or splitting, rendering the car useless since Corgi never sold spare parts to help you repair your Batmobile, they sent them out free if you complained (which is why they changed the tyres). The car was also supposed to be 500hp, which is very fast, but this car didn't move very fast !!! So the wheel change was designed to make the car move faster, and they didn't have to give out replacement tyres. Batmobile in capital letters on the bottom of the car. Still an easy car to find today especially on Ebay.

1972 (LATE) ONLY - Corgi Batmobile - red tyres, whizzwheels version with 8 spoke hubs, the flame now no longer pulsed in and out, Batman and Robin (Batman now blue though, Robin slightly smaller) instructions envelope containing all the same apart from they were now red instructions. Beacon cage was gold on every model from now except one... Only available with aqua glass This cost me £4.00, and i wish it was that now !!! I still have the original sticker on the box !! Batmobile in capitals on the bottom of the car. This should be the rarest car to find, but its not...

1973-76 Corgi Batmobile - same as the above but with black tyres (8 spoke whizzwheels), and for the first time there was a very noticeable difference with the glass. This version was available in blue, purple and white. Curiously, only the purple glass retained the silver beacon cage. The last versions of this type had the white and purple glass. This car, made with white and purple glass to me are the rarest to find today. Batmobile in capital letters on the bottom of the car. The Robin figure was now not as bulky as in previous versions. He retained most of the height, but looked like he'd lost some weight. Batman was blue in every version of this car. For some strange reason which i haven't figured out is when i hold any version of this car, it feels heavier than the following version. The only thing that changed externally was the wheels, so im guessing something changed internally. Without opening one up, which i can't bring myself to do, i'll never know.

1976-79 Corgi Batmobile - now made with 12 spoke whizzwheels, Robin very small, no instruction envelope, available in blue, white and purple glass. The other main change was to the bottom of the Batmobile, which now had national periodicals on the bottom. All versions before this just had Batmobile on the bottom. There are versions of this car that had Batmobile on the bottom, and they happened with the white and purple glass. which were the first to have the new styled wheels. When the blue glass later followed, it had national periodical on it. I notice this car a lot on ebay with the WRONG Robin figure in. He was about the same size as the pink Robin, but not made of pink. Early versions of this car he was slightly bigger and his cape was a bright gold, as opposed to a dark brass colour like it had been in previous versions. His legs were a lot thinner and his colours were generally brighter, and his hair was now a light brown, not dark as before. His cape wore down a lot easier than previous versions, so to find a mint one is extremely rare. The Batman figure now started to wear lipstick (lol !!) in this version onwards. This is the most common and easy to find Batmobile today.

1979-83 Corgi Batmobile - now made with wide wheels, (people tended to complain that the thinner whizzwheels broke or bent too easily and made the car useless when playing with them on concrete, and the suspension broke too easily, hence the wide wheels) early versions that came in the yellow blue with built in header card came with the pink Robin, the headlights changed from yellow to orange, and the horn indicators were not cut out properly. When the box itself changed in 81, to the black red yellow box with detachable header card, Robin was no longer in the car. Later versions had whats known as the blue dashboard, (which is easily accomplished, you could do this yourself with a cotton bud and a bit of white spirit) Batcopter stickers on etc. These were the last to leave the assembly line, since Corgi knew they were finished, and built the car with what was left. The horn indicators, either side of the beacon, now were not cut out properly. If you look at any version before this one you will notice that the tips are still on the wide wheeled version, but instead of bending into a curve from the top. it just goes straight down now. Previous versions the curve was cut out. This car isn't too hard to find, but in my opinion the least desired, as the construction was awful and it looks ugly. The header card was also packaged separately when it went to the shops, (so the header card didn't get bent or damaged) and it was up to the shop keeper to attach them, which the majority of the time he didnt. Thats why the last issue box with a header card is extremely rare.

La dernières version « Bat-hub », qui a les ailerons courts, les feux arrières remplis et les deux narines remplies a été crée par Corgi car il restait des dessous avec la flamme de turbine mobile et des roues à pneus en caoutchouc mais plus de dessus avec ailerons long ! Corgi, qui ne voulaient rien perdre a donc mixé l’ancien modèle de dessous avec le nouveau dessus prévu pour la nouvelle version à pneus rouges. Le nombre d’exemplaire de ce type est très très petit, peut être moins de 50, en trouver une en parfait état de nos jour est quasiment impossible.

La Batmobile à pneus rouges a été réalisée pendant seulement 6 mois en 1972, il s’agit la encore d’une erreur de l’usine mais comme Corgi a aimé l’aspect final il on décidé d’utilisé tout le stock de pneus rouges (mais aussi pour des raisons financières bien sur …). Quand le stock fut épuisé, et à partir de ce moment la, les nouveaux pneus sont de couleur noirs.

Certaines personnes pensent que cela est de nouveau arrivé en 1976, mais cela est impossible car Corgi vide sont stock de pièces régulièrement. Il est impossible d’avoir encore en stock des pneus rouges en 1976.

La Batmobile à pneus rouges existe UNIQUEMENT avec un pare brise bleu « eau », et JAMAIS avec l’inscription « National Periodical » sur le dessous.

La Batmobile à pneus rouges avec des ailerons arrières longs PEUT avoir existé. Mais le nombre est très très faible, en effet Corgi a du assemblé quelques prototype de Batmobile à pneus rouges en utilisant les pièces des versions « Bat-hub » encore en production à l’époque. Le but étant de voir l’aspect final de la voiture avant la mise en production, et il est possible que certains exemplaires soient sorties de l’usine, soit livrés dans les magasins ou soit par un employé de Corgi.

La Batmobile à pneus noirs lisses, roues Whizzwheels avec jantes à 8 quartiers commence à devenir très rare ! En effet il est très rare de voir ce modèle en vente (en fait on trouve plus de version rouge que celle ci !). Cela vient du fait que les deux versions sont strictement identiques (hormis les pneus et les stickers), certaines personnes donc achètent une Batmobile à pneus rouges en mauvais état, une Batmobile à pneus noirs lisses en très bonne état et font l’échange des roues. La plupart ne connaissant pas la différence au niveau des stickers, ne les change pas, ou ne peuvent pas les changer car abimé sur la version rouge, cela reste un excellent moyen de détecté une fausse Batmobile à pneus rouges. Il faut aussi bien regarder l’axe des roues pour détecter d’éventuelle trace de démontage.

Qui ne c’est pas posé la question pourquoi il n’existe pas de Batmobile version « Bat-Hub » et une flamme de turbine fixe ??? Et bien cette version n’a jamais existée. D’autres prétende qu’il existe un grand nombre de combinaisons possibles, ce n’est pas vrai car à l’époque les stocks de pièces étaient épuisés très rapidement. Le nombre de mixage est donc limité et il n’existe pas d'autre version que celle décrite dans ce site.

Le pare brise existe en 8 couleurs suivant le modéle et l'année de production :

bleu aqua, bleu clair, transparent, violet, violet clair,
aqua green, vert et aqua clair

Les premières versions à roues WhizzWheels “1976” ont des pare brise blanc ou violet. Au début Corgi utilise le reste des dessous avec l’inscription « BATMOBILE » issue du stock.

Dès le stock épuisé, Corgi utilise alors les nouveaux dessous avec l’inscription « National Periodical » mais toujours avec des pare brise blanc ou violet.

Les pare brise violets ont reçu trop de teinture lors de la fabrication du plastique, les blancs n’en n’ont simplement pas eu ! Cette erreur est juste arrivée deux fois, en 1975, une fois pour le violet et une fois pour le blanc. L’utilisation des pare brise violets et blanc s’est poursuivi jusqu’en 1977, date d’épuisement du stock, ensuite il y a eu le retour du pare brise bleu, mais cette fois ci plus clair que le bleu d’origine. Normalement, cette erreur aurait due aboutir au rejet des pièces défectueuses, mais il y en avait de trop et pour des raisons de cout elles ont toutes été utilisées.

Les premiers pare brise blanc ou violet ne sont apparus qu’en 1975 sur la Batmobile WhizzWheels avec les jantes à 8 rayons et les pneus striés. Les deux seules Batmobile WhizzWheels avec les jantes à 8 rayons et les pneus lisses (rouge ou noir) ont uniquement un pare brise bleu « eau » comme les versions précédentes à pneus en caoutchouc.

On trouve des Batmobile à pare brise blanc ou violet, avec l’inscription « BATMOBILE », et avec uniquement des antennes argent.

On trouve des Batmobile à pare brise blanc ou violet, avec l’inscription « National Periodical », avec des antennes argent ou avec des antennes grises.

Cependant lors de la réapparition du pare brise bleu, on trouve uniquement des Batmobile avec l’inscription « National Periodical » et uniquement avec des antennes grises.

Left is an aqua canopy, middle left a light aqua canopy, middle right is an aqua-green canopy, right a light blue canopy

La seule et unique fois ou l’on trouve la porte passager partiellement bouchée, suite à une erreur de moulage qui a été très rapidement corrigé, est sur les toutes toutes dernières versions de Batmobile « Bat-hub » sans crochet puis sur les premières versions de Batmobile « Bat-hub » avec crochet.

La voiture été prévue pour les collectionneurs, mais quand il est devenu évident que beaucoup de parents les achetaient pour leurs enfants, Corgi a modifié certaines parties comme les ailerons de queue et le nez qui ont été remplis, parce qu'on les considérés trop coupant pour les petits doigts. Cependant le remplissage à moitié des ailerons de queue, jugé insatisfaisant, a donné lieu à un remplissage complet par la suite. Pour le nez, seulement un côté a été rempli au début par erreur ! Les versions postérieures prouvent que Corgi a corrigé ce problème. En fait sur les Batmobile qui ont un nez, un arrière évidé et des ailerons longs, seules les ailerons étaient à considérer comme très dangereux. Imaginez un Batmobile avec les longs ailerons pointus dans le visage ! ! ! AÏE ! ! ! Les ailerons seront donc raccourcis également par la suite.

Corgi a donc, dans un premier temps, modifié les moules existants afin que les deux naseaux et les feux arrières soient remplis.

En effet les deux naseaux et les feux arrières devaient être remplis pour les premières versions avec crochet. Cependant Corgi s’est aperçu que tout les modèles n’avaient pas les deux naseaux de remplis et que les feux arrières était remplis seulement à la moitié. Comme les voitures étaient déjà peintes, il n’était plus possible de le corriger sans refaire une peinture.

La modification du moule n’était donc pas concluante, et au début les pièces défectueuses étaient rejetées. Mais au vu du nombre important de pièces rejetées (nez à un seul côté rempli, ailerons de queue à moitié remplis…etc.), Corgi les a finalement utilisées, en effet le problème n’était pas si grave et il fallait fournir les magasins !

Ainsi elles apparaissent à partir des dernières versions sans crochet puis sporadiquement dans une période de 5 ans sur les versions avec crochet. Il est impossible de dire combien de fois cela est arrivé pendant cette période, mais cela s’est produit plusieurs fois.

Corgi a donc utilisé les pièces défectueuses sur les modèles sans crochet puis sur les modèles avec crochet. A l’époque le choix de modifier le moule, au lieu d’en fabriquer un nouveau, a été fait pour une raison financière.
Quand le projet de la Batmobile version WhizzWheels apparait en 1972, c’est l’occasion de refaire de nouveaux moules qui corrigeront le problème de manière définitive. Ce qui a été fait précédemment n’était que des solutions provisoires, mais avec la modification du dessous de la Batmobile pour l’adapter au nouveau diamètre, plus petit, des axes de roues Whizzwheels c’est le moment opportun de corriger tout les problèmes. Un nouveau moule est donc créé avec cette fois ci des ailerons courts et des feux arrières complètement remplis.
Ces changements, initialement prévu pour être appliqué sur la nouvelle version de Batmobile à pneus rouge se retrouve cependant sur la version « Bat-hub » avec crochet.

En effet quelqu’un de l’usine a employé les nouvelles pièces (nez à deux côtés remplis et feux arrière remplis) avant la production de la nouvelle version de Batmobile à pneus rouge.

La version « Bat-hub » avec crochet ayant le nez à deux côtés remplis et les ailerons de queue remplis est un type très rare de Batmobile ! !

une Batmobile « Bat-hub » sans crochet :
- avec Ailerons longs, les feux arrières creux, deux narines creuses,
- avec Ailerons longs, les feux arrières creux, une narine remplie,
- avec Ailerons longs, les feux arrières creux, deux narines creuses, un défaut sur la porte droite,
- avec Ailerons longs, les feux arrières à moitié remplis une narine remplie,
- avec Ailerons longs, les feux arrières à moitié remplis, deux narines creuses.

une Batmobile « Bat-hub » avec crochet :
- avec les Ailerons longs, les feux arrières creux, deux narines creuses,
- avec les Ailerons longs, les feux arrières creux, une narine remplie,
- avec les Ailerons longs, les feux arrières creux, deux narines creuses, un défaut sur la porte droite,
- avec les Ailerons longs, les feux arrières à moitié remplis, une narine remplie,
- avec les Ailerons longs, les eux arrières à moitié remplis, deux narines creuses,
- avec les Ailerons courts, les feux arrières remplis, deux narines remplies.

1967-72 Corgi Batmobile noir brillant – Cage du gyrophare de couleur argent (1967-1970), puis couleur or (1970-1972)

1972 Corgi Batmobile pneus rouges – Cage du gyrophare de couleur or sur tous les modèles à partir de maintenant sauf un.

1973-76 Corgi Batmobile – Curieusement, seule la version “violète” conserve la cage du gyrophare de couleur argent.

Batboat 1967-76 version 1 – Cage du gyrophare (première version argent foncé, derrière version depuis 1970 couleur or).

The majority of purple glass i've seen have also had silver beacons, but i suppose Corgi could have put on gold ones on a few, either that or someone has changed the beacon cage, which as you know is very easy to do on any model. Every purple glass i saw in the shops all had silver beacons. I've seen early 66 models with no towhook being presented before with gold beacons, whilst the model is still mint. It's all down to an owners preference really, as i have put a gold beacon on a 67 model before, just through personal choice!!! I would say 99.9% of the time the purple came with a silver beacon, theres always a possibilty it did come with a gold beacon to start with, It could simply be that the owner changed the beacon too.

A lot of the batmobiles had what were called longer red lights or were to big to fit properly into the hole, which caused it to protrude out of the top, which in turn didn't hold the beacon cage down very well!! So consequently when the box was moved in the shop for example, these sometimes fell off and lost forever. This was very common on the whizzwheel versions, and rarely happened on the red hub versions.

Sometimes too, the red light piece was too thin and didn't stick in very well and fitted very loosely!! I've had a couple of these too before, and i had to glue the red light into place.

As for the rockets, they were either red or yellow, and ive noticed a lot of people stating that the red rockets werer available early on. Thats not quite true, as i saw later whizzwheels with red rockets when i was younger.

I've seen sellers stating that the red rockets only came with early issues of the car too, yet i saw loads of the wide wheels with these in woolworths in 1982. I can only think that its sellers again trying to make more money. The red rockets did disappear however, they weren't in the 72-81 Batmobiles.

The aerial on the first matt black Batmobile were slightly transparent, you can look the light through.
After the aerial changed from silver.

L’antenne a simplement changé de couleur, elle est passée d’un couleur argent à une couleur grise. En fait, encore dans une logique de réduction des couts, Corgi n’utilise plus de peinture lors de la fabrication du plastique, de ce fait le plastic est de couleur brute et n’a plus cet aspect de couleur argent.

What else is not commonly known is about the first version, the matt black. This was available in 1966 for 2 months only, and contained a very rare Robin figure. The Robin figure was a lot bigger than in later versions, and was very hard to fit in the car (unlike later versions, when you just tipped the car upside down and he fell out !!). He was like this in the matt black ONLY, when the gloss version came out 2 months later, the Robin figure was slightly (but not very noticeably) smaller, whereas in the matt black he was impossible to get in or out of the car without cracking the glass. His head was above and rammed against the glass and very hard to get in the car !!! In later versions, he got a lot smaller !!! The last Robin figure made was made of pink plastic, and found in the last version of the Batmobile, the wide whizzwheels version. When the wide wheeled was put into its last box, the yellow black and red with detachable header card Robin was no longer included in the car.

The Robin figure was available all the way upto 1981, the only boxes he never appeared in were the last ones, the red black and yellow boxes, which were the wide whizzwheels on its own and the duo pack.

1966 Corgi Batmobile matt black - The Robin figure was a lot bigger than in later versions, and was very hard to fit in the car (unlike later versions, when you just tipped the car upside down and he fell out !!).

1967-72 Corgi Batmobile gloss black - Batman and Robin. Batman was with a grey body in all these early versions (but in 1970 he changed to blue and beacon changed to gold which coincided with the box change).

1972 (LATE) ONLY - Batman and Robin (Batman now blue though, Robin slightly smaller).

1973-76 Corgi Batmobile - The Robin figure was now not as bulky as in previous versions. He retained most of the height, but looked like he'd lost some weight. Batman was blue in every version of this car. For some strange reason which i haven't figured out is when i hold any version of this car, it feels heavier than the following version.

1976-79 Corgi Batmobile - Robin very small, I notice this car a lot on ebay with the WRONG Robin figure in. He was about the same size as the pink Robin, but not made of pink. Early versions of this car he was slightly bigger and his cape was a bright gold, as opposed to a dark brass colour like it had been in previous versions. His legs were a lot thinner and his colours were generally brighter, and his hair was now a light brown, not dark as before. His cape wore down a lot easier than previous versions, so to find a mint one is extremely rare. The Batman figure now started to wear lipstick (lol !!) in this version onwards.

Box type 4 - 76-79 All of these definitely had Robin in, or at least were meant to. It wasn't uncommon to find that he'd fell out of the car into the box, or he'd simply been robbed out of the car, along with the missiles usually. The easiest way was to just tip the box up, and wiggle it and you'd find that Robin just falls out. Since the boxes weren't sealed it was quite an easy thing to do. This is why the Batboat came with Batman and Robin tied together with a piece of elastic, but no-one thought to do it with the car !! Because of Robins size, he was lost very easily so i guess people really didn't want to buy the car again, or at least the parents lol !!! This Robin, along with the later pink one, are the hardest and the rarest to find today.

1979-83 Corgi Batmobile - Early versions that came with the pink Robin. This car DEFINITELY had Robin, this was definitely the last version to contain the Robin figure though.

Le Batboat existe en 6 versions. La version « Tin Fin » avec un pare brise bleu eau, transparent, violet ou bleu clair et les deux versions « Ailerons oranges » au pare brise bleu clair avec ou sans les ouvertures dans les prise d’air sur le dessus du Batboat à l’avant. Seules les toutes toutes premières versions « Ailerons oranges » possèdent des ouïes ouverte comme sur la version « Tin Fin ».

Le Batboat en photo sur l’arrière des boites de 1976 montre un prototype qui n’a jamais été produit et vous pouvez voir quelques différences entre la version réelle et l’image :
- les bat-stickers sont les mêmes que sur la version « Tin Fin »,
- la cage du gyrophare est présente,
- un pont arrière recouvert d’une fine lithographie comme sur la version « tin fin », à gauche et à droite, au pied de l’aileron (on voit le reflet).

Batboat 1967-76 Tin fin version, available in white, aqua and purple glass, beacon cage (early versions looked like a dark silver, later versions from 1970 it was gold). Came with a trailer with tyres (5 types) Batman and Robin included. Box was card which was predominantly blue and yellow with a pic of the Batboat in water on the front and back. Flame stickers on hull Later box types had on ther inside flap "for spare tyres ask for ref no 1449". The first Batboat boxes had NO ref no. This again, was due to complaints about the tyres splitting. You'll notice the ref no is DIFFERENT from the GS3 box type 2, this is because when the boxset came out in 1970, the trailer was still the original, with it having different tyres. So that makes it POSSIBLE to date your Batboat .by its trailer This changed as well on the Batboat box in 1973 when the boat changed its trailer tyres and hubs. Also included in early versions was a plastic coupling, which you could attach to your Batmobile IF you had bought one WITHOUT a towhook. So in regard to the ref numbers, in 1970 it first appeared on any box, 1456 and 1457 being first. and 1973 just for the Batboat box it changed to 1449.

Batboat 1976-81 Orange fin version, only ever available with blue glass, Batman and Robin, different hull stickers, no beacon cage at all. Box was header box predominantly yellow and black with a window. I own a Batboat box that has the date 1974 on the back (dc comics 1974) which was the first version of the box, and shows you how early Corgi were thinking of changing the design. When they eventually did, they used the boxes that had already been printed off (but changed the date later on). Why they never changed the picture though (because it shows the pic of the prototype) is beyond me.

Batboat 1967-76 version 1 – Cage du gyrophare (première version argent foncé, derrière version depuis 1970 couleur or).

Pendant toutes la durée de production des Batmobile, il n’était pas rare de trouver dans les différents magasins des anciens modèles à coté de modèles plus récents. Ainsi en 1981 vous pouviez trouver un modèle 76-79 dans un magasin, en dans un autre un modèle roues large 81-83. De même on pouvait trouver des versions « Bat-Hub » en 1977 ! Cela dépendait en fait de la gestion des stocks de chaque magasin. Les catalogues Corgi ne sont pas forcment de bonnes sources d’informations.

Le Batboat ne c’est pas aussi bien vendu que la Batmobile, surtout pour la seconde version ? L’absence de gadget comme sur la Batmobile rendait ce modèle moins attractif pour un enfant. Le Batboat a fini sa production en 1981, comme le Batcopter qui ne c’est pas bien vendu également car il ne ressemblait pas du tout à celui de la série TV !!! Ne parlons pas de la Batbike ni de la Penguinmobile…

Darren and Sean mentioning a fire that broke out in the Swansea warehouse, sometime in 1969 i think. This destroyed over a years stock of corgi models, including the batmobile, which is why corgi had to run with what they had. They had orders coming out of their earholes and no models. This is what killed corgi really, as a lot of people went to Dinky instead, including retailers. They did rebuild the site and extended it sometime in the 70's. It went bust in early 83, then re-opened the year after as a limited company. During the time it went bust however, they lost most of the rights to the cars they had previously built. I did e-mail corgi a few months back actually to see if they would ever re-release the batmobile, but a representative of corgi told me they don't own the rights to it anymore.

There was indeed a fire at the Corgi factory in 1969, march 10th to be exact, which destroyed the warehouse with over a years stock. The factory i used to work at, we built a few months in advance of orders, and corgi was no different. So the cars we received in the shops would have been in storage for some time. They had to work round the clock to pull the orders back, which included any previous rejected parts. This is why we had the birth of the red tyred batmobile. Whilst it was released in 1972, they would have been assembled before this and placed in storage. It also explains why corgi had to run with them, to keep up orders and to keep their cars on the shelf, as dinky was becoming a major factor. I remember Sean telling me they had to work around the clock just to keep up, and there was a lot of handy over-time to be had too. The fire was indirectly the reason why corgi had to cost cut too. The car, whilst it changed from red hubs to red tyred and lost the pulsating flame, it didn't affect the selling price, as it was still £4:00. This also explains the cheap photocopy instructions on 73 models. Corgi just used anything it could to get the cars out to the shops, and hence the reason why over the next few years they used rejected parts such as canopy glass etc. It also explains why corgi in 1970 added "we reserve the right to amend specifications or colours" to the box. Any mistakes they now made they had to send instead of rejecting.

From 1976 though, no instructions or badge were included with the car, you had to make do with a diagram on the back of the box instead !!! Cost cutting by Corgi !!

It was expensive to make the red hub Batmobile, with all its features, so they simply got rid of some of them. The first casualty of the change was the pulsating flame, which was lost due to the change to red tyres. In 76, they got rid off the instructions envelope, and instead printed them on the box itself.The last version, the wide wheeled was by far the worst. They didnt trim the indicator horns, didnt paint the dashboards properly, and even ran out of the bat logos for the doors, but still had cars left over. The solution? Simply use the Batcopter stickers. They werent going to print off more, especially since they were going under. (For anyone whos worked in a factory, it can take several months or even a couple of years to shut down a factory !!) If only they'd kept it the original way, it might still be popular.

Corgi knew in 1981 they were in trouble, so looked for ways to cut costs, hence the cheaper boxes (the only way to determine a genuine last issue Batmobile box was by the inner plinth or the header card.everything else was universal which Corgi used for ALL their models) and the loss of Robin, This happened with a lot of their models at this time.

The final Batmobiles to leave the factory were the Batcopter stickers version AND the blue dasboard version. When it became clear they were going under and working short-time, they used what was left. Usually, these faults wouldn't have passed, but because they went bust they had to pay their staff and crediors with something. So, any parts left built a Batmobile. At first they separated the faults, so not all the faults appeared on one car. Later on, they combined them, so its possible to find a Batmobile out there with a blue dashboard and Batcopter stickers. I have never seen this version, but i know it exists somewhere !!

Just another short note, the Batcopter, when it was released in 1976, was originally to be included with a Robin figure. Since they made it to scale with the Batboat and Batmobile, they included a second seat in the Batcopter. However, it was found that the seats were too small to include a scaled Batman and Robin, so the answer was simply to get rid of Robin. They also followed suit later on with the Batmobile. Since Robin no longer worked with Batman in the comics (he did very rarely) there was no point in having him in the vehicles, and was another good cost cutting exercise for Corgi !!! This is why Robin was a lot smaller in later car variations. He was intended for the Batcopter. When that didn't work, they simply used him for the Batmobile instead. Batmans pose was changed entirely as the car version couldn't sit behind the Batcopter seat properly.

A big thank you to Sean and Darren, who gave me virtually all of the info on here some years ago now and who worked at Corgi in its heyday.

I include here, from the many many questions i asked Darren, a bit of the question i asked him, just to give you an idea of what he said.

QUESTION : "so how many types of batmobiles are made in all, as there seems to be a lot of versions??
ANSWER : "There are many different types, some intentional, many not!! The red tyred was deliberate, the matt black we made the mistake and some were constructed different simply because we ran out the necessary parts or had some left over."

QUESTION : So there could be hundreds then???"
ANSWER : No, there may have been as many as 40, but that's a guess. The model officially changed 6-7 times i think. The way we worked then was get the numbers out, get the models finished and on some models when the design was different in a slight way we didn't have all the parts made to complete exactly the same models as before or we had some parts left over, for instance the tyres we might have had more of than the beacon cages, or the screens. The most likely different models occur when the model changed officially in some way or form."

QUESTION : "like the white glass 76 version that came with the word Batmobile on the bottom??"
ANSWER : "Yes, that was because we had some of the bottoms left over, and that is a more common model to find as the white glass ran into the thousands. In some instances we only had a few parts left and used them, we never threw anything away really unless it was completely broke and unusable. On some batmobiles for example you will find a crack on the front which we used and had to use a sealant when it was placed into the batmobile to prevent it from cracking further"

QUESTION : So i could be looking forever to find some batmobiles??"
ANSWER : "In some cases yes, as they are either in someone's collection, or they're broke by now. Some were so small in numbers that they could have disappeared forever."

The rare thing about this piece is that the box was personally signed by George Barris who designed and made the first batmobile in 1965. I guarantee that the signature is authentic or your money back. The piece is still in like new used condition and has original box with plastic bent with a tiny tear but is still present.

Corgi batboat that is signed by George Barris the original creator of the 1965 batmobile. The signature is on the plastic and that plastic is ripped but still shows the signature very well.

Signed by George Barris the original creator of the 1965 batmobile. The box is original and the piece is new never used. The plastic is broken in pieces but the car is great and has the original rockets.