The Designer Of The Last Batmobile Made This Datsun A Reality

The renderings morphed into an actual car with a Tesla-sourced powertrain.

Datsun 240Z with Tesla powertrain

Angel Sergeev

By: Angel Sergeev

Dec 29, 2023 at 7:19am ET

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Through the years, we’ve seen plenty of cool car renderings depicting unimaginable transformations of existing vehicles. Almost all of these virtual drawings never progress past the stage of a photoshop project. This Datsun 240Z was among the very few lucky ones that morphed into an actual vehicle. And it’s a sight to behold.

The idea first appeared in Ash Thorp’s mind. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, he is the guy who designed the Batmobile for The Batman movie from 2022. The artist has a history of creating numerous projects with automotive companies, including De Tomaso, Lamborghini, and others. This time around, the designer teamed up with Carlos Pecino, who works for the design company Make Haste Corp. This matte black Datsun was their first joint project.

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A few things stand out from a design perspective. For starters, we love the location of the side cameras that act as side mirrors – they are hidden in a special housing in front of the doors. The absurdly massive diffuser at the back is another highlight and we also admire the carbon fiber wheel caps that cover the BBS multi-spoke alloys. The overall Batmobile-inspired styling is also enhanced by the sharp side skirts.

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The stock 2.4-liter inline-six engine under the hood is gone. Instead, power comes from a Tesla-sourced fully electric powertrain. A Model S electric motor sits on the rear axle, giving the outlandish Datsun 401 horsepower or almost three times more power than the original 240Z had. At around 2,500 pounds, it’s heavier than the Japanese coupe but not by much.

The interior? As you’d probably expect, only a few components come from the 240Z. There’s a custom layout with three dials in the center, a Chevy Equinox-sourced steering column, a digital instrument cluster, and a chunky center console.

Source: Larry Chen on YouTube

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