Legendary Batmobile Spotted in Vladivostok Parking Lot

In a parking lot in one of Vladivostok’s residential districts, a living legend from DC Comics and a Hollywood blockbuster was spotted — a massive custom Batmobile. The car is styled after The Dark Knight, with an aggressive design and elements resembling rocket launchers on the hood.

«Where was it brought from? What is it built on? It seems to be parked on Dneprovskaya Street,» wrote Alexander Kovtun in the Telegram channel «News of Vladivostok and the Region».

«It was shown on TV in Moscow. Now they’ve hauled it here. Someone’s pocket is really weighed down by cash,» commented user Amigo74.

As it turned out, the assumptions were not far from the truth. A similar Batmobile was first spotted on the roads of Moscow in autumn 2019. At that time, it was said that the car took part in filming for the DC cinematic universe and later was put up for sale — for 55 million rubles ($687,500 at current rates).

However, the car was never an ordinary participant in road traffic. The press service of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) said that the Batmobile is a show car, manufactured outside factory conditions in a private workshop. It is not registered with state bodies, does not have a vehicle type approval certificate, and is not allowed for road use.

But that did not stop the owner from taking the show car for a drive in Moscow in 2020. The Batmobile was quickly stopped by State Traffic Safety Inspectorate (GIBDD) officers and sent to an impound lot.

A video of its towing was published by Vice President of the National Automobile Union Anton Shaparin.

And in 2021, the unique car was already officially shown to the public — it became one of the main stars of City Day celebrations in Tula.

According to an expert assessment by the YouTube channel «808», the car spotted in Vladivostok is a rare high-precision replica of the Batmobile, modeled after the vehicle from the films «Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice» and «Suicide Squad». There are only four such examples in the world: one is in the USA, one in Russia, and two more in the United Arab Emirates. The Russian owner bought the car in the USA in 2018 and brought it to Moscow.

The latest Batmobile is radically different from the elegant versions of past decades. While the first «real» screen Batmobile appeared in the 1966 TV series based on the Lincoln Futura concept car, the modern version looks more like a tank. Director Zack Snyder deliberately went for maximum brutality — and the car fully reflects that.

Despite its cinematic appearance, the car is very much alive. Under the hood is a gasoline V8 with a 5-liter displacement and 502 horsepower, an automatic transmission, and rear-wheel drive. The car is about six meters (19.7 ft) long, and its mileage (as of 2021) is only about 120 kilometers (75 miles). The suspension is pneumatic, the frame is reinforced, and the transmission and axle shafts have been reworked for the huge wheels.

Inside, there is a real superhero cockpit: a quick-release racing steering wheel, surround-view cameras, a night vision system and thermal imager with 25x magnification, a digital control system for all components, Android-based multimedia, and even an aviation joystick for controlling auxiliary systems. However, all «weapon» elements are purely decorative and have no combat functions.

Daily use of such a car is extremely difficult. Due to its size and weight, handling at speeds above 100 km/h (62 mph) is considered unsafe.

The price has increased many times over the past few years. While in 2021 the car was valued at 55 million rubles ($687,500 at current rates), now, according to the author of the photographs from Vladivostok, the Batmobile’s cost could reach 144 million rubles (about $1.8 million). The annual transport tax amounted to over 75,000 rubles ($938).