VINTAGE: Batmobile Dream Comes True

Arizona man gets a second chance to sit behind wheel of the original 1966 Batmobile for the second time, 46 years later.

Bob Golfen | Posted January 18, 2013 Scottsdale, AZ

Mark Parthe shows one of his 1967 photos of him and his siblings playing in the original Batmobile. In this photo, his six-year-old sister is standing on the driver's seat. (Photo: Bob Golfen)

Some people come to Barrett-Jackson to dream. Others come to fulfill a dream.

For Mark Parthe, this year’s Scottsdale auction provided a chance to relive a dream, going back to a moment in time that gleams vividly in his mind despite the passage of 46 years.

When Parthe learned that the famous original Batmobile from the 1960s TV show was going to be at Barrett-Jackson this week – set for auction on Saturday – he thought that finally, he just might get his chance.

Parthe and his wife, Tomi, drove down from Prescott Valley, Ariz., about 100 miles northwest of Scottsdale, armed with a manila folder with a few photos from the past. The pictures are of 12-year-old Mark with his younger brother and sister. The year was 1967, and the place was Duluth, Minn., where their dad was program director of the local ABC-TV affiliate, WDIO.

And the kids are posing inside the Batmobile. At the time, the George Barris creation was part of one of the hottest shows on TV.

Reliving the picture, Mark Parthe sits behind the wheel of the Batmobile. (Photo: Bob Golfen)

“We got to play in the car,” Parthe recalled Thursday as he stood next to the Batmobile on display in Barrett-Jackson’s top-drawer Salon Collection. “Because of my dad, we got to do things like that.”

He held up one of the photos, showing him sitting seriously behind the wheel. This was the source of his dream.

“I want to reproduce that moment, with me sitting in the car,” he said.

Hanging around the Batmobile with Tomi and his pictures, Parthe asked all who would listen whether he could, just once, sit inside the Batmobile. Finally, he caught the ear of SPEED’s own video producer Jana DeHart.

DeHart rounded up Barrett-Jackson president Steve Davis, and together, they escorted Parthe to the Batmobile. With a crowd gathered and the video-camera lights blaring, Parthe opened the door and slipped inside.

Behind the wheel of the Batmobile at last, Parthe joyfully held up one of his old photos for the camera.

After a few minutes, Parthe climbed out and his world turned back to normal. He shook hands with Davis, who headed back to the auction block. And he effusively thanked DeHart for making it happen.

“Wow, we finally did it,” he said. “I finally got to sit in it. Nobody gets to do that.

“What a moment!”

But Jana wasn’t done with him yet. She told Parthe that if he returned to Barrett-Jackson today, she would try to set up a meeting with the legendary car-customizer George Barris, who is attending the auction to promote the sale of the Batmobile.

Oh yeah, Parthe will be here to meet Barris, he said, and to relish yet another great moment in time.

The Batmobile is scheduled to cross the block during Saturday's primetime sale at the 42nd annual Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction, which continues through Jan. 20 at WestWorld with ive coverage on SPEED. For more information about the event, see Barrett-Jackson.com.

Bob Golfen, Automotive Editor for SPEED.com, is a veteran auto writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, with a passion for collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. SPEED.com fans can email Bob Golfen at

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Bob Golfen

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