Holy mods, Batman

Take one 1978 Corvette, add high-density foam, fibreglass and shiny black superhero-grade paint. Tah-dah! You have yourself one Michael Keaton-era Batmobile.

This Batmobile is taxed and road-legal - in fact, the guy who built it drives it around his native Texas.

Is this cool? Cool, is it? Vote below…

Floats like a bee, stings like a butterfly?

Meet the Nissan BR23C - a concept car robot. The stocky biomimetric chap is the future of Nissan’s road cars. In a technique borrowed from nature, the ‘car’ uses lasers to detect objects around it and avoid collisions. Was that the sound of a car insurer shrieking?

Bees use a natural version of this technology. They are able to swerve to avoid any object that enters their 300 degree field of vision. The BR23C is currently been shown off at the CEATEC 2008 home electronics trade show in Japan, but Nissan are believed to want to bring the technology to a motor show near you very soon.

Video after the jump…

Ever dream of riding a motorised big cat? Dream no more

Some petrolhead with too much time on his hands has created this amazing motorbike, the body of which is designed in the shape of Jaguar’s big-cat logo. He’s done a damn fine job too - it actually looks like you could ride it for real, which is more than we said of Batman’s uber-gay Bat Pod.

Auto logos we wouldn’t advise riding on: VW (ouch)

See another pic of the Jag bike below:

First production car from American manufacturer

Why are concept cars always so much sexier than production cars? Partly because manufacturers play it safe when real money is on the line, but also because car designers only fulfil their potential when they’re told to think outside the box. Translation: go f**kin’ nuts.

With this Rt.S, made by Georgian company FortuneSport, you get the best of both worlds: a sports car with head-turning concept looks that you can actually buy. It’s slated to go on sale in the States by late 2010 with a price tag of $85,000. If you’re lucky enough to live in America, that’s a lot of car for not much money.

British manufacturer shows off green sports car

The eye-catching Morgan LIFECar (annoying zeitgeisty name alert) was first unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March, and now British fans of the marque can see it up close and personal, at the British Motor Show in London.

The LIFECar’s USP is its claim to be an “environmentally responsible sports car”. An oxymoron, you might think, but it manages to run via a zero emission, hydrogen power source, and yet also look like a 21st-century supercar. So Morgan may be on to something. Problem is, it’ll only do 90mph, which is hardly going to please speed freaks wanting to reduce their carbon footprint. It does reach 60mph in less than seven seconds, so it’s not all bad news for adrenaline junkies.

The future is close…

Madcap company Moller International  - it’s a bit like Acme, but for real; Moller was also behind the SkyCar - has announced that it plans to start production of an initial run of 40 flying cars as early as next year. The first cars will be based on the M200G “ground effect” vehicle, designed to operate at just 10ft off the ground. The car is also capable of vertical take-offs and landings.

This is awesome news, squared. We all know that when an affordable flying car hits the market, that’s the day we can say: the future is here at last, it’s time to start having a whole lot of irresponsible fun at 10ft off the ground in a giant frisbee.

More details this way…