1956 Lincoln Futura: An el blasto from the el pasto, baby

This predecessor to the original Batmobile was designed by Ford and built by Ghia, for the equivalent of $2.3M in today's dollars. After touring the car shows for a year, it sat out back of George Barris' shop rusting away for a decade before the call from the studios for a Batmobile turned up in the mid-'60s. Fender flares and a jet engine did the trick.



The kit is simplicity itself, with no motor, drivetrain or any chassis bits. It's a perfect candidate for a qiuck build, thus rapidly reducing the stash.



Fortunately I had a can of Tamiya Coral Blue just sitting around, and this provided the perfect '50s pastel colour.



Ride height with wide whites from the parts bin is a little high, because the tires are taller than the unpainted styrene bits in the kit, and can't be jammed up inside the body too much further.



Eagle eyes will recognise '68 Chrysler 300 wheels from the JoHan kit, because the Futura items are small for the whites. I may need to look for smaller tires to get the ride height down, and to allow the neat original wheels to be used.



The couple in the car are a hoot. I'll have to learn about painting flesh tones. The black stripe below the beltline is a mirror of the white line (on a red body) found on Interweb pictures of a recent copy; there will be a chrome strip separating this from the upper body and joining the bumpers.



A tribute to the optimistic '50s! stay tuned.