A little over a month ago, Warner Bros. announced that they are selling ten fully functional replicas of the famous Batman Tumbler from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy. Considering its immense desirability, one would expect the official Tumbler replicas to be snapped up quickly. Instead of a crypto millionaire or a Qatari prince, the first confirmed buyer of the collectible is Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
While his team is at the bottom of the AFC North, the professional football player showed flashes of brilliance this season, throwing for a career-high 481 yards and three touchdowns against the Atlanta Falcons. Cementing his spot as one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks, Burrow treated himself with the stunning $3 million gift right before Christmas.
“Have I told you I bought the Batmobile,” the quarterback asked his team’s wide receiver Tee Higgens during the first episode of HBO’s latest Hard Knocks season, which prompted his teammate to ask if the badass movie car is already part of his garage. “I don’t think I get it for like a year but I bought it,” Burrow responded. Ja’Marr Chase also joined in the conversation with the trio joking about how Burrow can get a Batsuit to match his new ride for Halloween. They also quipped about the club being the best place to break out the Batmobile and a Batsuit.
Over the years, we’ve seen countless Batmobile replicas, but this licensed version, made in collaboration with Action Vehicle Engineering, is the closest to the real thing. While the running and driving Tumbler is not road-legal, it’s a crazy machine with really impressive specs and features. Measuring around 183 inches long, 111 inches wide, and 60 inches tall, the Batmobile is finished in Vanta Black. Built around a tubular aeronautical-grade steel frame, the body of the Tumbler is made from Kevlar, carbon fiber, fiberglass, and steel.
The Tumbler replica is powered by a General Motors-sourced 6.2-liter LS3 V8 capable of producing 525 horsepower and 486 lb-ft of torque. The performance figures have not been revealed, but the vehicle weighs 5,511 pounds. With a price tag of $3 million, the Batmobile is priced similar to many of the present crop of limited-production hypercars.
However, almost none of them can be as cool as the Tumbler. The steep pricing should barely bother Burrow. His five-year contract extension with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2023, worth $275 million, set an NFL contract record, with an average annual value of $55 million.
