Dark Knight Trilogy

45. ExCeL Centre London

Chicago, IL

Book Now

Constructed in 2000, ExCeL (Exhibition Centre London) became London's only International Convention Center. Accompanied with hotels, event halls, and numerous other buildings the campus engulfs all 100 acres it was built on. In 2012 the center became part of Olympic history by dividing the building into five sports halls to host boxing fencing, judo, taekwondo, table tennis, weight lifting, and wrestling. This massive space is also used for conferences, religious services, weddings, exhibitions, concerts, and evidently test driving Batmobiles.

Seen as an extension to the Applied Sciences Department of Wayne Enterprises, ExCeL's North Event Hall, spanning almost 500,000 square feet, is the stage where the Tumbler makes it's debut in Batman Begins. Bruce Wayne instantly recruited the Tumbler as his new age Batmobile, though it was only referred to as such in the scripts. Lucius Fox, head of Applied Sciences, providing another one of Batman's endless unique equipment needs, explained the Tumbler was created for the army to help carry cables across rivers with the ability to boost into a rampless jump. So tighten your seat belt, because this is the real deal. The film's production designer, Nathan Crowley, had six Tumbler's made for Batman Begins. Four of these 5000 pound vehicles were built as race shot versions, resembling a race car interior with a massive tank like appearance crushing through concrete with defying speed. Another model was built for the interior shots throughout the film, filled with cameras and laden with gadgets. This model could only be driven forward slightly and was mainly used for the vehicle's unique way of opening up for Batman entering and exciting the Tumbler. The last model was a smaller version with propane tanks and a jet engine used for the flying shots the Tumbler is noted for. But you might need to start pumping your breaks because not only was this innovative design millions of dollars to create, each process taking months, the stunt drivers had to train six months to be able to handle the speed, weight, and unique build of the Tumbler. Hand levers were placed inside the race models to help the drives conquer the curvy roads of the Windy City with limited visibility.

The most recent constructed ideal of the Batmobile is said to be loosely based off of Frank Miller's tank version in the comic The Dark Knight Returns. Production designer, Crowley, describes the machine as a cross between a Lamborghini and a tank, which is fitting for the classy Caped Crusader. It goes without saying that the Batmobile has come a long way since Adam West's 1955 Lincoln Futura Concept used in the original Batman film, but they all have one thing in common: it comes in black.