The Batmobile has seen many prop cars built to co-star in the numerous adaptations of the capped crusader to make it to the screen. Typically, a long and cartoonish vehicle with plenty of gadgets and trickery, fans are prone to making their own version of the car for shows and car meets.

However, when it came to director Christopher Nolan's dark and gritty incarnation of Batman with 2005's Batman Begins, a new style of the vehicle had to match the trilogy's tonal shift. The Tumbler was born as a supercar-inspired co-star. Canonically, the vehicle is an ex-military prototype, tucked away at Wayne Enterprises.

Actors Morgan Freeman and Christian Bale test the vehicle in its camouflage livery in a testosterone-filled scene. The stakes are a little higher in this scene as the Tumbler was a real car made for the film, without CGI the car drove, jumped, and smashed through walls in the course of production. The original Tumbler from The Batman movie could cost millions.

Updated September 2022: The Batmobile from The Dark Knight Trilogy is one of the coolest Batmobiles ever built. And there has been a considerable amount of monetary investment involved in making it; which frankly no one is aware of. We have updated this article with more details on the real cost of making the tumble from Batmobile. Many have created replicas, and you can also own one!

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Production Staff Can't Say Anything

Batman with his new Batmobile
Syed Abdul Khaliq Via Wikimedia Commons

The studio behind Nolan's Batman trilogy is quite proud of the Tumbler, with it making frequent appearances at press events and motoring shows such as Jay Leno's Garage and British Top Gear. The car was completely custom, meaning that, unlike most film cars it didn't share a chassis with a road-going car, it needed to be able to perform the stunts in the film.

Nolan placed the utmost importance on the design of the Batmobile and refers to it as a “contemporary approach” in-line with the tone of his films. As a result, he took the onus of designing the car. The Guardian reveals, that in early production Nolan approached Chris Corbould, special effects' supervisor with a model of his vision made from parts of model cars, boats, and planes, creating the iconic angular almost Lamborghini-like shape of the Tumbler.

Corbould jokes that he would “be shot” if he revealed the price of how much the Tumbler cost to produce but does liken it to a “small mortgage.” The figure could go into the millions. Nolan's estimated budget for Batman Begins is $150 million.

Beneath the body, the Tumbler has a V8 engine with a three-speed gearbox and features like wipers on the front window and propane tanks to give the illusion of it being jet-powered. The suspension is incredibly beefy with a foot of travel, enabling it to perform the stunts from the films.

RELATED: A Detailed Look At The Motorcycle Batman Drove In The Dark Knight

Some Fans Have Made Cars

Batmobile Begins Tumbler at premier
Spud Murphy Via Wikimedia Commons

The Gumball Rally is no stranger to seeing the rarest sights of the automotive world, be that Paganis and Bugattis racking up mileage or full-fledged Batmobiles. The same team that would enter Yugos into the international rally in 2016, Team Galag from Saudi Arabia, entered their Tumbler into the rally for 2014.

A perfect replica, it has four large rear tires, a jet engine, and all the angular body panels which adorned it on film. It drew plenty of attention on the way from Miami to Ibiza with its 4.2-liter V8, before it dropped out of the rally. Never disheartened, Team Galag returned with their Lamborghini Gallardo-based Batmobile 2.0 in 2016.

Service Market, an insurance specialist, values this car at $1.55 million. Replicas of Nolan's Tumbler have sold for as much as $1 million, and those with cheaper donor cars like those listed by Historics Auctioneers had a high-end value of £120,000. Given the completely bespoke nature of the Tumbler, producing the car must have taken more than $1 million out of the film's budget.

RELATED:20 Things About Batman's Tumbler That Make No Sense

Own The Tumbler As Seen In The Batman Trilogy

There is a Tumbler replica as seen in The Batman Trilogy for sale in Kazakhstan! (Yup, of all the places!). It has been listed for sale by Exotic Car Trader for a suspiciously digestible price tag of $399,000. There aren't many details on the type of work done to convert it into this beast, or the donor car used. The only mechanical aspect that we know of is that there is a naturally-aspirated Toyota V8 under all that sinister makeover.

The engine powers those humongous rear wheels via an automatic transmission. Clearly, this thing isn't built for speed; and we would sweat a lot to turn this around! This Tumbler is apparently made by Evgeny Bondarenko. And he claims to have done most of the impressive work by hand.

Sources: Jbkanal Via Instagram, Exotic Car Trader, Batman Fandom, Jay Leno's Garage Via YouTube