The patent for the 1989 Keaton Batmobile expires this November. The COPYRIGHT for the name BATMOBILE will stay in effect forever. What this means to you: You will be able to build a "Batmobile", but you cannot legally call it a "Batmobile". It must be called a "Gotham Cruiser" or some other suitable name. You can let other people call it a Batmobile, but you yourself cannot. Now, WB will still likely attempt to curb those efforts by fans to build replica cars, but they tried the same thing for the Barris car so many years ago.
Alot of people are currently making these cars. In fact, I know a guy who actually has a copy of the molds that are exact replicas of the Keaton car. However, in all practicality, you would not want to build an exact replica. Now hear me out...
The original car was so long, there was no way you could make it driveable. Not reasonably so, anyways. Even if you added all the modern amenities, i.e. side view mirrors, a rear window, headlights that are above the legal limit, etc... If you were to go over any bump or dip in the road you would beach the car or shatter the fiberglass nose piece. Especially since the nose piece sticks out so far from the front wheels. This is no traditional lowrider.
There are a few guys out there right now who are sculpting or building bucks and molds for these cars, in anticipation of the November expiration of the copyright. They are modifying the car so as to make it driveable. You can realistically build this car to be 20' or so and still maintain the image and driveability factor. Of course, it would still ride 2" above the ground, so at least one person I know is adding airbags to their car to raise it up when a bump is approaching. A novel idea.
An average enthusiast could realistically sculpt this body using the Polyurethane / Fiberglass composite sandwich method, which you can read more about from my website.
www.thebatcave.8k.com (Click the 1989 Batmobile link) New builders can build very professional car bodies on their first attempt, and the cost is not prohibitive at all. The average cost for fiberglass and all related materials for an average size car is only around $900-$1200. If you totally mess up, you can start over and not be in the hole too much. And the best part is, you never need to make a mold or a buck if you use this method.
There are alot of rumors going around about WB taking people's replica cars, taking people to court, etc. While there is indeed some truth to this, it is not as widespread as believed. I have several contacts who both replicate and sell these cars, and it is rather difficult for WB to do much about it unless they find the molds or the people slip up and call it a Batmobile publicly. Remember, copyrights don't expire. The term "Batmobile" is the intellectual property of WB and DC, so we can never steal it. But as was the case with the mysterious #5 Barris replica, (a fan made car that Barris tried unsuccesfully to buy from the builder when he found out about it. He ended up making the guy a rep for him and authenticated the car as a Barris original) WB will have no sway after November.
Check out my website at
www.thebatcave.8k.com and go to the 1989 BATMOBILE page. There is alot of info there, and some pics of fan built projects. As you can imagine for legal reasons, I do not put TOO MUCH information out there for the public. But if you are seriously interested, and you have the cash, I can get you a body if you want it. Hell, I can get you a darn turnkey if you really want! Just let me know.