And now for something completely different...

When Christopher Nolan rebooted the Batman franchise in 2005, there was a conspicuous absence of neon and bat-related detailing. What we got instead was a tank. A 9 by 15-foot tank with an afterburner bringing up the rear. This entry took Batman's wheels to a whole new level.

Called the Tumbler (no one in the movie ever referred to it as the Batmobile), the car was designed by Wayne Enterprises as a military bridging vehicle that used its jet engine to launch over rivers with cables in tow – a function later employed to launch the car across rooftops.

In reality, the Tumbler was built by movie car engineers Chris Corbould and Andy Smith, who aimed to make it as practical as possible. Weighing in at 2.5 tons and powered by a 500hp Chevy 350 V8, the batty behemoth boasted four 44-inch Super Swamper tires and could hit speeds up to 177km/h. It could also make the dash from zero to 100km/h in under six seconds, which is impressive given its size and weight.

There was no room for cheesy gadgets this time around, but the Tumbler's new "attack" mode was quite nifty. It saw the driver's seat shift from the left side of the car to the centre, repositioning the gravel-voiced guardian in a face-down position between the front wheels.

Lying prone protected Batman with more armour plating during a firefight, and reduced the forces placed on him (or whichever stuntman was behind the wheel at the time) during extreme manoeuvres. It also helped with aiming the guns mounted at the front of the vehicle – always non-lethally, of course.