Gearhead Geek Builds Turbine-Powered Batmobile
Unless your name is Bruce Wayne, Casey Putsch has a much cooler car than you do.
I am referring of course, to the Batmobile replica now parked in Putsch's driveway. From the car's official description [http://www.putschracing.com/?p=367]:
The car is a replica of the vehicle from the classic 1989 Batman movie that was directed by Tim Burton starring Michael Keaton as Batman. It is registered and insured for the street and features a military spec Boeing turbine engine that was used in a drone helicopter by the Navy to drop torpedoes on enemy submarines. Putsch taught himself about turbine engines and successfully rebuilt this surplus engine by himself. The engine powers the rear wheels via a semi automatic transmission and is driven like any other conventional production car. The car's engineering and construction is fully racing derived and can be considered the most extreme exotic car on the planet.
If you don't quite understand why that "turbine engine" feature is such a big deal, I will direct your attention to the footage of Putsch driving the thing embedded above.
Hear that sound when he starts the engine? That ascending-pitch whine of the turbine spinning up? The only way that noise could be more Batmobile-appropriate is if it were overdubbed with a clip of Frank Miller clubbing Jason Todd to death with a picture of Christian Bale.
Despite my enthusiasm for the engine, the interior of Putsch's Batmobile is pretty impressive as well. The obvious point of interest would be all those switches and dials -- Batman loves switches and dials -- but slightly less obvious is Putsch's attempt to mimic the Batmobile's on-board computer system via a dashboard-embedded iPad. What it lacks in psychological profiles of Killer Moth, it more than makes up for in wireless iTunes syncing capabilities.
It should be noted that this Batmobile isn't exactly an amateur, DIY project cobbled together in some dude's backyard. Casey Putsch is the owner of Putsch Racing [http://www.putschracing.com/], a company that specializes in vehicle restorations of the "incredibly gorgeous" variety. Putsch does work that most of us will never be able to afford, and that gig apparently allows him live out the dreams of every male born in America since 1935.
Source: Autoblog [http://www.autoblog.com/2011/07/13/man-creates-worlds-only-turbine-powered-batmobile-w-video/]
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Unless your name is Bruce Wayne, Casey Putsch has a much cooler car than you do.
I am referring of course, to the Batmobile replica now parked in Putsch's driveway. From the car's official description [http://www.putschracing.com/?p=367]:
The car is a replica of the vehicle from the classic 1989 Batman movie that was directed by Tim Burton starring Michael Keaton as Batman. It is registered and insured for the street and features a military spec Boeing turbine engine that was used in a drone helicopter by the Navy to drop torpedoes on enemy submarines. Putsch taught himself about turbine engines and successfully rebuilt this surplus engine by himself. The engine powers the rear wheels via a semi automatic transmission and is driven like any other conventional production car. The car's engineering and construction is fully racing derived and can be considered the most extreme exotic car on the planet.
If you don't quite understand why that "turbine engine" feature is such a big deal, I will direct your attention to the footage of Putsch driving the thing embedded above.
Hear that sound when he starts the engine? That ascending-pitch whine of the turbine spinning up? The only way that noise could be more Batmobile-appropriate is if it were overdubbed with a clip of Frank Miller clubbing Jason Todd to death with a picture of Christian Bale.
Despite my enthusiasm for the engine, the interior of Putsch's Batmobile is pretty impressive as well. The obvious point of interest would be all those switches and dials -- Batman loves switches and dials -- but slightly less obvious is Putsch's attempt to mimic the Batmobile's on-board computer system via a dashboard-embedded iPad. What it lacks in psychological profiles of Killer Moth, it more than makes up for in wireless iTunes syncing capabilities.
It should be noted that this Batmobile isn't exactly an amateur, DIY project cobbled together in some dude's backyard. Casey Putsch is the owner of Putsch Racing [http://www.putschracing.com/], a company that specializes in vehicle restorations of the "incredibly gorgeous" variety. Putsch does work that most of us will never be able to afford, and that gig apparently allows him live out the dreams of every male born in America since 1935.
Source: Autoblog [http://www.autoblog.com/2011/07/13/man-creates-worlds-only-turbine-powered-batmobile-w-video/]
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