Original Batmobile to hit auction block

LOS ANGELES - Reuters

Batman's original ride, from the 1960s TV series, will be auctioned on Jan. 19, 2013, at the Barrett-Jackson auction house in Scottsdale, Ariz. The 19-foot-long black, bubble-topped car was used in the TV show that starred Adam West as the Caped Crusader. On the show, it boasted lasers and a Batphone and could lay down smokescreens and oil slicks. AP Photo/George Barris

The original car from the "Batman" television series is going up for auction and is expected to fetch a seven-figure sum, auctioneers Barrett-Jackson said on Thursday, Reuters reported.

The two-seater car was featured in the live-action "Batman" show starring Adam West that aired from 1966 to 1968.

"The Batmobile is true Americana and it's hard to put a dollar figure on something like that," Craig Jackson, chairman and CEO of automobile auction house Barrett-Jackson, said in a statement.

"We expect plenty of enthusiasts and fans to come out and wouldn't be surprised if the car sold for multiple millions."

The 1955 Lincoln Futura, of which only one was made, was a hand-built concept car developed by the Ford Motor Co. featuring a bubble top. It was bought in 1965 for $1 by owner George Barris, who customized the 5.8-meter car for the televsion series.

The one-off Futura symbolized space-age design of the 1950s with a push-button transmission and exterior microphones that piped in the sounds of traffic to its occupants.

The car will be auctioned on Jan. 19 in Scottsdale, Arizona, along with Clark Gable's personal 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe sportscar.

It is not uncommon for notable cars in entertainment history to be sold for large sums at auction. The 1964 Aston Martin DB5 used in the James Bond films "Goldfinger" in 1964 and the following year's "Thunderball," fetched $4.6 million at auction in 2010.