Almost every little boy growing up dreams about being a superhero that fights off evil doers and stands for up justice when the every day man cannot. It’s dreams like those that fade away for most of us as we age. They simply get replaced by sports, cars, and eventually relationships with the opposite sex as time progresses but thankfully we have flashbacks to our childhood fantasies from time to time.
Some of those flashbacks come from movies and television shows that have exploded out of Hollywood. These blockbuster films bring all of the magic and action found in comic books and cartoons to life right before our eyes. Granted most of us leave the theater or turn off the TV knowing that these productions are still nothing more than fantasies but there are others out there that want to live the dream everyday.
Casey Putsch of Dublin, Ohio is one of those dreamers who wanted to bring his dream to a reality and luckily he had the perfect setup to do so. Putsch happens to be the owner of Putsch Racing and spends the majority of his time building some of the fastest and most competitive track racers in United States. You could say the guy knows a thing or two about cars and how the operate. As you may have guessed Casey’s dream was to be able to build and drive the caped crusader’s vehicle, the Batmobile.
Not just any old Batmobile would do though. Casey wanted the vehicle used in Tim Burton’s Batman from 1989. Putsch set off and wanted to stay as true to the turbine creation used in the film. He was able to source a turbine engine from a Boeing made Navy helicopter and after a while he managed to attach it to a suitable frame. It took a little work to keep the engine’s turbine from spinning at close to 40,000 rpms but thanks to a set of planetary gears Casey was able to control the speed at a very manageable 7,000. A custom built driveshaft was assembled to carry power from the engine to a four speed automatic sequential gearbox.
The body of Casey’s Batmobile is comprised of fiberglass that rests on top of an aluminum shell. The complete vehicle weighs in at just over 2,800 pounds! Putsch claims that his creation’s performance can best be compared to a Dodge Viper GTS and that it can run on diesel, kerosene, and of course jet fuel. Everything about Casey’s crime fighting vehicle is an exact copy from the film minus the iPad2 that controls many of the vehicles sensors and computers.
Casey didn’t the build his Batmobile to show off his skills as a builder or to advertise his business. He instead decided to take on the task because he’s a fan plain and simple. He completed this build a few years ago but chose to sell it off on Ebay where it fetched over $600,000 dollars. To this day it is the world’s only jet turbine powered Batmobile in existence.