Australia’s Zac Mihajlovic uses his street-legal Batmobile replica to help terminally ill children.
Oh yes – You read that headline correctly. There’s actually a street-legal Batmobile in existence. It only took two years, about a million dollars and one seriously psyched superfan to achieve. And like the real Batmobile, it’s often zooming down the road to help those in need.
E3 Spark Plugs introduces you to Zac Mihajlovic, the Australian guy with the car that’s no doubt got his buddies in full-on envy mode. His newly registered ride is a near-exact replica of the Batmobile featured in the 1989 Batman movie, which started Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader aka Bruce Wayne, Kim Basinger as his beautiful romantic lead, and Jack Nicholson as his nemesis, the clownishly homicidal Joker.
The project began in 2009, when Mihajlovic bought multiple spare parts from the actual Batmobile used in the blockbuster film, the first of a string of Batman movies, the next of which, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice starring Ben Affleck, is in production and slated for release in 2016. After getting the all clear from Warner Brothers Australia, he and his grandfather Scott Cox, a retired mechanical engineer, set about the task of recreating the iconic ride.
By 2011, the car, complete with a cinematically-correct flame thrower, was complete and Mihajlovic and Cox were elated. But it would be another few years before the two could make their next move. After a few modifications, the car was deemed legally street-worthy in December 2013, making it the only one of about a dozen similar replicas on the planet to be registered as street-legal. And that’s when a real-life super hero was born.
Since landing registration, Mihajlovic has suited up and slipped behind the wheel, using the Batmobile to bring unbridled joy to terminally ill children via the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s Australia chapter. The 29-year-old even turned down multiple offers for more than $1 million, including one made on behalf of a sheik in Dubai.
“I’ve always been a movie fan,” Mihajlovic recently told reporters. “Batman has the coolest vehicle and he’s the only one without super powers.”
Unless, of course, one considers love and amazing generosity as super powers. Here at E3 Spark Plugs, we do. And while we admit we’re a bit jealous, we salute Mihajlovic and his grandfather – true everyday super heroes.
