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Fox: “So what do you think?
Bruce: “Does it come in black?
―Lucius Fox and Bruce Wayne[src]


A Black Tumbler was used by Batman. Tumblers were a military prototype, off-road tank vehicles. Batman's black Tumbler came custom with an array of weapons and gadgets.

History

Batman Begins

Gordon: “I'll get my car.
Batman: “I brought mine.
Gordon: “Yours?
— James Gordon and Batman[src]

When Bruce Wayne reestablished his connections to his father's company, Wayne Enterprises, Bruce met former board member Lucius Fox in the Applied Sciences Division. There, Bruce was able to acquire various gadgets for his soon-to-be alter ego known as Batman. One of them was the Tumbler, a prototype armored tank-like vehicle with a desert camouflage color scheme designed as a bridging device for the military, which included weaponry and the ability to boost into a rampless jump. When Lucius asked Bruce his thoughts on the Tumbler, Bruce then simply asked if it came in black, which confirmed that he wanted it.

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Bruce's customized black Tumbler in Batman Begins.

When Rachel Dawes needed saving at Arkham Asylum, Batman enlisted the help of GCPD Sgt. Jim Gordon, who carried her to where he met with Batman. Gordon then said he'd get his car, but Batman said that he brought his, to Gordon's brief bewilderment. Upon seeing Batman's car, Gordon then said: "I've got to get me one of those!" A chase then ensued through the streets of Gotham City, where the Batmobile eluded a fleet of police cars, until Batman was able to escape with Rachel to the Batcave where he then administered the antidote for Scarecrow's Fear Toxin to Rachel.

As the "Narrows" section of Gotham was covered in Fear Toxin, Batman arrived in the Batmobile in order to aid the police, who were engaged in battle with psychotic criminals who were set free from Arkham Asylum by the League of Shadows. Before he saved Rachel and confronted Ra's al Ghul, Batman left Gordon in control of the Batmobile in order to stop the elevated train that was used to transport the Microwave Emitter to Gotham's central water hub at Wayne Tower. Batman then battled Ra's, and then escaped just as Gordon toppled the elevated line by use of the Batmobile's missiles, which left Ra's to crash with the train to the ground.

The Dark Knight

"That's more like it..."
―Scarecrow[src]

Several months later, Batman parked the Tumbler, which was newly christened the "Batmobile", in a parking garage, where he remotely controlled it to fire at some cars in order to intimidate Scarecrow and a Russian mob before Batman himself appeared on the scene. Despite failing to stop the Russian mob from escaping, Batman successfully caught Scarecrow and a group of Batman Impersonators.

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Bruce standing next to the plated batsuit and the Tumbler in The Dark Knight.

Wayne Enterprises Accountant Coleman Reese confronted Lucius about his designs of the Tumbler, remarked how it was of his design, and asked sardonically if Fox never noticed it tearing up the streets on the news.

Harvey Dent was being escorted across Gotham when the convoy was attacked by the Joker and his henchmen, who disabled all of the police vehicles except for the armored car that carried Dent. Batman then entered the fray with the Batmobile, and rammed a garbage truck that was driven by one of Joker's Henchmen via a head-on collision.

Batman then ran the Batmobile full-speed between Joker's truck and the armored car and received the brunt of an RPG that was fired by Joker from his RPG. After the Batmobile flipped violently and came to rest at the side of the road, Batman then engaged its escape mechanism, which converted the Batmobile's left and right front tires into the Batpod before the rest of the vehicle self-destructed.

Features

The Tumbler had a pair of machine guns that were mounted in the nose of the car between the front wheels. In "Attack" Mode, the driver's seat moved to the center of the car, and the driver was re-positioned to lie face-down with their head in the center section between the front wheels. This position served two main purposes: first, it provided more substantial protection with the driver shielded by multiple layers of armor plating. Second, the low-down, centralized driving position made extreme precision maneuvers easier to perform, while lying prone reduced the risk of injury that a driver faced when they made those maneuvers. Other devices included:

  • Six rear flaps to assist brakes
  • Twin forward-firing machine guns
  • Rocket launcher
  • Landing hook to Sprung landing stabilization
  • Integrated fire-extinguishing system
  • Integrated safety connection to gasoline control
  • Vector-controlled jet engine on back of car for quick boosts/"rampless" jumps
  • Stealth Mode, which turned off the car's lights and cut the engine. The vehicle was then powered by an electric motor, which made it very hard to find in dark places (which made the mode the most useful at night), and, as demonstrated by the car chase in Batman Begins, could easily throw off pursuers.
  • Explosive mines were deployed from the rear of the vehicle, which could take out any cars that made contact with them.
  • The Front of the car was heavily armored, so that the car could ram as a practical offensive attack, and also protected the driver while in the prone driving position/"Attack" Mode.
  • Both front wheels could eject when the vehicle was damaged and form the Batpod.

Technical Specifications[1]

  • Length: 15 feet (4.57 m)
  • Width: 9 feet 4 inches (2.84 m)
  • Weight: 2.5 short tons (2.3 t)
  • Acceleration: 0-60 in 5.6 seconds. Under full acceleration, the car could actually rise up on its front suspension while the rear wheels stayed planted on the ground creating an effect like a giant spider.
  • Approx. full speed: 160 mph (257 kmh)
  • Engine:[2] 5.7 liter GM engine capable of 500 horsepower. The jet engine and vector controls could jump up to 6 feet vertically.
  • Fuel: The "jet engine" on the back of the car was fed by gasoline.
  • Tires: Super swampers tires standing 44 inches tall (via titanium axles).

Gallery

Brchest There is an image gallery for

Behind the Scenes

Background Information and Notes

Nathan Crowley and the director created the original design by "KitBashing" model kits together rather than working with illustrators on sketches.

Trivia

  • The name "Batmobile" was never mentioned by Fox or Wayne.

References

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