An architecture student in Hanoi, Vietnam built a real-life Batmobile after he was inspired by “The Dark Knight.”
Nguyen Dac Chung, 23, and a student at Hanoi University of Architecture, told Vice he immediately fell in love with the vehicle after he saw it for the first time in the 2008 Christopher Nolan movie.
Measuring at 3.6 meters (11.8 feet) long, 2.6 meters (8.5 feet) wide, and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) high, the Batmobile can seat two people and travel at the speed of 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour on a straight road and has doors that open like wings, Nguyen told VNExpress International.
“The vehicle uses a 400 cubic centimeter engine with four cylinders,” he said. “It runs using A95 gasoline. I used electronic cylinders, remote control and air cylinders for the back designs.”
However, he had to compromise one of the exciting aspects of the original Batmobile from “The Dark Knight.”
“I didn’t use a jet engine in the back like in the movie,” he said. “My car only has the replicated shape and uses motorbike exhaust pipe.”
With the help of some teammates, Nguyen was able to complete the project, but it still took a lot of work and reading head gasket sealer reviews.
“I had to reconstruct the 3D part of the car and then separate the kit parts to assemble the exterior. That is to make the frame and electric lines, install the tire parts, the car’s details,” he said.
Nguyen was able to find some of the parts he needed for the vehicle in Vietnam, but he had to import the other required parts from the United States and South Korea. It took the team 10 months to build the Batmobile and ended up costing them a total of 500,000,000 Vietnamese dong ($21,600).
He also encountered some personal obstacles along the way.
“Yes, I [was] very tired sometimes and [wanted] to give up many times, but every time I want to give up, I think back to the reason I started to get motivated,” Nguyen said. “I am really happy to see my brainchild…I am proud of it because of the difficulties I overcame.”
Nguyen said he is not done and plans to work more on the Batmobile. Nguyen added that he had other ideas for future projects but is keeping them to himself for now.
