Batmobile

Batmobile, ‘Black Panther,’ ‘Gran Torino,’ Cars Star at the Petersen Museum’s New Exhibit

By Michael J. Moody 4 months ago

The DeLorean time machine from “Back to the Future”, the Batmobile from “Batman” and Ecto-1 from “Ghostbusters” don’t need any further explanation. The iconic vehicles far outgrew their respective movies and are now cultural touchstones.

The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, already a home to some big-screen vehicles, is opening a new exhibit with these cars and more, starting March 12.

The new exhibit will highlight some of the best pieces from the “Hollywood Dream Machines: Vehicles of Science Fiction and Fantasy” display from 2020 (the largest exhibition of its kind in the world).

It will also include some surprise additions as the museum is branching out to include an even-broader range of cars. The Lexus LC500 from Marvel’s “Black Panther” joins the fray, as does the DMC-12 from “Back to the Future,” the Ecto-1 and several cars from the “Batman” series.

“Some vehicles used in television and movies

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This Highly Coveted BMW ‘Batmobile’ Would Make the Caped Crusader Green With Envy

By Michael J. Moody 9 months ago

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, long before BMW became a mass-luxury brand name, the marque was known for building sporting cars that combined Bavarian frugality, solid German engineering and—if one squints one’s eyes and imagines—sober, attractive style. The automaker had shed its reputation for lavish antiquated barges like the model 502 “Baroque Angel” and the money-losing 507 sports car, and embarked on a new mission.

Pivotal to the change in direction was the 1600 and 2002 series (an altogether longer and most interesting story). But BMW customers had a taste for sporting luxury that would never be sated by the boxy ’02 and, by the way, BMW had a perfectly delightful inline-six engine with which to power a more substantial car. The most beautiful by far was the 3.0 series E9, which began as a 2.8-liter version with the 1968 2800 CS. The later 3.0 CS, introduced in

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