From Owner, Shawn Walters...

Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted a 1989 Batmobile. When I first saw the 1989 and 1992 Batman films it was the Batmobile that always made me want to watch. For me it wasn't so much about the movies or Batman, but more so about the look and design of the car. So even at an early age I knew I would one day own one. 

I worked my way up from a little Batmobile Hot Wheels to a ride in Batmobile Power Wheels, to a Batmobile coin machine kiddy ride, to a Batmobile go-kart, then finally the real thing. When I finally had the funds to buy one, I looked at about seven of them for the past few years. But all of them needed a lot to be roadworthy, as most are just built for show. Randomly , one day I was searching the Batmobile builders Facebook page when someone posted they were looking for a Batmobile, and jokingly I said yes me too. Not within a full day, I got a message saying "I have one that I would like to sell."

The Batmobile that he called the Hopemobile was being used for the past many years as a rolling memorial. The car was used for his charity to bring hope to kids who were suffering from a terminal illness or kids who were suffering from something tragic in their lives. The whole car was designed with that in mind, with a flip-up canopy so kids could get in and out of the car easier with their machines. 

He wanted them to have an epic experience inside the car, where they could go for a ride in a Batmobile, and where he would call it a Hope Injection so they would keep fighting. Quoting him, " you would either capture last smiles, or you would get kids whose prognosis wasn't going to live more than a week would get their hope injection and would live longer". 

All of the plaques under the hood are children who got to ride in the car, but unfortunately, were laid to rest. Except for the one on the top left side, which is the daughter of the singer Vince Neil from Motley Crue. They donated signed guitars to help raise money for the car, and as a promise to Vince Neil, his daughter would go on there first. Quoting the previous owner, "The plaques are the best way to keep the memories and legacies of those real heroes alive. Display those plaques wherever you go, and as people take pictures of them, they share the names and memories of those children all over the internet".  

The car also went through many states doing parades, and going to schools, teaching the four steps to greatness: never give up, always do the right thing, help other people, and never be a bully. After learning about the mission of the car and knowing it was built to be driven everywhere, not trailered, I knew this was the right car for me. 

Since owning the car, we have started to put our own touch on it, but never forgetting the mission and the history of the car, and one promise I made to the previous owner is that the plaques of the true heroes will always stay on the car and never be forgotten.