One of the coolest features of the classic 1966 Batmobile is the Emergency Bat Turn. Whenever the Caped Crusaders are in a hurry sometimes they don’t have time to make a proper K turn to switch directions. So when needed, Batman pulls the Emergency Bat Turn Lever which deploys two huge Bat-Chutes from the rear of the Batmobile slows it down enough to do a full 180 turn-around. The chutes are then dropped onto the road and the Dynamic Duo speed away in the opposite direction.

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The Emergency Bat-Turn was used a few times in the first season but ABC received fan mail from kids complaining that Batman was littering by leaving the chutes in the road. As we all know littering is a crime and Batman would never break the law so the show producers needed to come up with a fix for this. So for future shows they decided to add a quick little video segment after the chutes are left behind. After a Bat Turn, Robin calls up the Batmobile Parachute Pickup Service to let them know they have some chutes to collect. The van then races to the scene to get the chutes. Since crime fighting is a full time job the parachute pickup service is always on call ready to answer 24/7.

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As you watch the TV show you’ll see that they got their money’s worth with that Dodge van. They re-used it quite a lot.

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Lyman added a fun Bat Turn mode to the Batman66 game that takes advantage of the spinning Batmobile toy. After hitting the Batmobile on the spinner a number of times (default is 10), the Bat Turn mode is started. During this mode, you spin the Batmobile to do a Bat Turn then complete one of the main shots to have the Batmobile Parachute Pickup Service Van pick up the chutes.

A lot of people might not have even remembered this bit on the show but now that it has its own mode with great LCD video of the van in action I thought it would be cool to make my own Parachute Pickup Van.

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First step was to find a donor vehicle to use. It just so happens that Hot Wheels makes a 1966 Dodge A100 service van. If is part of the Star Wars Ralph McQuarrie Concept art series of vehicles. I’m not sure of the van used in the series was a 1966 Dodge A100 but it looks like a very close match. The main difference I saw with this Hot Wheels version was that it was a “low rider” style. The front wheels are smaller than the back ones so the van looks a little more streamlined than the 60’s stock version. We’ll just assume that the Parachute Pickup Service guys decided to pimp out their old van and put some cooler performance tires and suspension on this version.

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First step with the van is too take it apart. If you look at the bottom of the van you’ll see a big metal rivet holding it together. Use a drill bit the same size or a little bigger than the river to drill it out. It doesn’t take much to go through the head of the rivet. Its hard to see if you’ve drilled through the rivet but if you look closely you can see there is a faint line between hole in metal base and the metal shaft in that hole. Its ok to over drive it a little. Two pics below show original rivet and then after you drill it out.

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Now you can use a small flat screwdriver or something similar pry the bottom off the car. It’s easy to bend the bottom as you pry it off but that’s okay since it’s metal you can bend it back.

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Once the bottom is off you can them remove the inner plastic interior and the windows. On the rubber tires that came with this van, one side has white walls and the other is all back. So you can decide which look you prefer when you re-assemble it. I think the white walls look more 60’s era appropriate myself.

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Since the metal shaft the goes into the base hole is such a tight fit, it can be hard to re-assemble it. I used a Dremel to sand down the sharp edges of the shaft to make it easier to re-assemble.

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Next step is to get the old paint off. You might be able to just paint over the existing paint but it might not adhere as well and you would lose some of the detail in the car. I used Klean Strip since I had some leftover form a cabinet restoration. It works really well, just paint it on, let it sit a few minutes and the paint just peels off. Wear good gloves though as it will burn your skin otherwise.

For the paint, I used Rustoleum Spa Blue for the van and a metallic silver for the wheel rims. I wanted to paint he rims because the original Hot Wheels has gold rims.

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My first attempt at the signage on the van was to just use a clear water slide decal. The problem with this approach is that it can’t do white so the lettering was just black. The van from the show had a white outline around the word “Parachute” so I decided to switch to a white backed waterslide decal. The harder part of this approach is making a decal with a blue background that matches the paint. I think I got it to match reasonably well.

here's the waterslide decals I used. They work great.
https://www.amazon.com/Blinggasm-Waterslide-Sheets-Printer-PRINTER/dp/B00ZLVF698

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I then painted the headlights with a silver paint pen and the tail lights with a red paint pen.

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Once that was all done Let it dry a while then you can put some clear coat on it. Make sure the paint is fully cured before doing the clear coat. I waited 2 or 3 days and still got this when I sprayed clear on it. I tried again but the second time I waited a full week and it came out fine.

Once everything is dry you can reassemble everything. It should all snap back together fairly easily. I also put a small dab of glue on the metal post where the rivet was to keep it all together.

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For mounting I used some double-sided foam tape on the bottom of the van. Since the wheels are taller in the back I need to use 2 pieces on top of each other so the tape makes contact with whatever you are sticking it too. If you wanted a more permanent connection you could also drill a small hole in the metal bottom. Then you could screw the van right though a plastic on your game to hold it. The disadvantage of that approach is that you are drilling a hole through one of your plastics so if you ever removed the van or relocated it to a different position you still have hole in your plastic. I prefer to have my mods 100% reversible with no damage tot he game if possible.

I tired mine in a few spots. I think I like it on the left ramp flap the best, looks like its just parked there waiting for the parachute pickup call.

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I made some extra vans for anyone who’s not the DIY type. Comes fully assembled, painted, and ready to mount with the included mounting tape. Cost is $40 shipped within the continental US. Overseas will be slightly higher due to increased postage. Send me a PM if interested.

I also made a vintage looking blister pack for it so it looks like a real Hot Wheels package from store. So, if you don’t mount it in your machine you can have one just for fun.

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I like making stuff and it gives me a creative outlet. I hope others find it useful.

Regarding Hot Wheels and the 1966 A100 van, I think Mattel got almost as much use out of that van as the original Batman show did. They just keep on making new versions of the van with everything from Snoopy to Ozzy Osborne. I guess a nice feature of the van is that it has a big wide canvas to put art on it.

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Since pinsider MK6pin had the idea to mount the van on a post I revised my design slightly with my latest batch. I added a 3/32" hole on the bottom which is a good size for a #4 sized screw. I then take a length of 0.041" lock wire from harbor freight and put a small loop at the end.

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Put the screw through the loop and screw it to the bottom of the van. The free end of the wire can now go under any other screw (like on top of post screw) to secure the van.

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I finished the vans for those who were already waiting for one and have a couple left for anyone else who wants one. Its getting more difficult to find donor vans and they are a pain to make so I probably won't be making anymore for a while once these are gone. The price went up slightly to $45 shipped since I had use multiple online sources for donor vans and they were a little more expensive to get this time around.

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