We’ve gotten many inquiries about this, so we decided to create a page to explain the options. These options range from super easy to much more challenging depending on your hobby skills, which version of the car you are using, and your preferences in displaying figures with the cars. NOTE: These methods apply to all iterations of our figures, not just the older generation ones in the photos.

First, as we’ve said before – There are no miracles in sight that will thwart the physics of these Hot Wheels Batmobiles. The physics of the thing are such that Hot Wheels simply didn’t give us much space to achieve natural looking, seated figures that would fit under that steering wheel in its current configuration without pressing up against the wheel. Sorry. Ain’t gonna happen. Believe me we tried. The figures just didn’t end up looking right. We’ve seen other modelers who’ve either stuck too-small 1/25th scale figures in the car which look tiny, or jammed figures with tiny legs and heads that are posed staring up into the sky – those might “fit” in the broad sense of the word but we were after something a bit more realistic.

We first developed these figures [Called the Gen 1 Crimefighter Figure Set] that were originally designed by TPM Customs, with a Caped Crusader figure that was designed like many diecast car collector’s figures. This is called a “Plug” or “Buck.” If you’re looking for figures that look great in the car and you don’t care that the Caped Crusader has no legs – this is the set for you*. These figures have separate arms that can be posed around the steering wheel or in the Boy Wonder’s case – up on the passenger side canopy.

Lots of people loved these figures but we decided to offer a different approach, one that could incorporate full legs on seated figures.

We had a set of figures newly designed and produced by an Asian toy producer that would fit in the car. These new figures are seated and scaled for the Hot Wheels car, come with articulation points at the shoulders and wrists and are available fully painted. There are still some challenges with getting the Caped Crusader in under the steering wheel so here are some options for fitting him in the seat.

1. The Squeeze Play. The easiest way to get the Caped Crusader in the seat is to simply lift up the steering wheel at the base and squeeze him in there. I’ve fitted him into Standards and Elites this way, and while the wheel presses up against the figure, it does fit. Simple. Not the most comfortable look but Hey Presto, it works – you’re done. It shouldn’t permanently  damage either the wheel or the figures and it’s the non-modeler’s cure to this space issue.

2. EZ Steering Wheel Fix. Let’s talk about the steering wheel for a second. Hot Wheels used a too-big, and/or too-thick wheel in their versions of the car instead of the 1966 Futura wheel that they should have used. AND the column and wheel are not set at the right angle, which should be should be much steeper. Take a look at this shot of the real column and see what we mean. See how it points upward into the air more?

So, the first and easiest way to reposition the wheel, is just to simply clip the steering wheel at the spokes/center hub. With this done, you can turn the wheel 180 degrees upside down, glue the wheel into the Caped Crusader’s hands, or clip the ends of the wheel to fit around his thighs. This still allows you to turn the tires with the center hub of the steering column.

turning the wheel upside down

You could also at this point glue the wheel back to the hub 180 degrees rotated so that the cut-out section straddles the Caped Crusader’s knees. You can also clip more of the handle area away as well to better achieve this.

Or you could move on to one of the more involved methods of fixing the accuracy of the Batmobile’s steering wheel.  We’ll go into these advanced methods in more detail later in the site when people start experimenting with our replacement parts.

 

3. Advanced Steering Wheel Replacement. The real on-screen 1966 TV wheel should be the Futura wheel and not the later-used Edsel wheel.  PMB! has a resin replacement Futura wheel coming out soon in our first set of upgrade parts. This steering wheel can be simply swapped out for the wheel in there now, though that won’t correct the angle problem. You will have to disassemble the HW dash/wheel/column  section and widen the cavity that the old hub sat in but then you can just slip the new wheel over the old hub if you don’t want to fix it further.

If you DO want to really fix it further…

4. More-Advanced Steering Wheel Replacement. To really fix the angle of the column and make it so that the Dark Knight can slip more easily into the driver’s seat, you’re going to want to fix the dash cavity that the wheel hub sits in and force the angle upward a bit. Using our replacement wheel and a new hub barrel idea we’ll discuss later, this is all possible, though it will take some advanced modeling skills and patience.

You can also achieve some more room for figures with these other modeling fixes:

5. Butt-Print Those Seats. Well, this may sound odd but the seats in the HW Batmobile are not Butt-Imprinted or worn in enough. If you carve some of the plastic away from them, as if someone was sitting in them and depressing the cushions – the figures will sit down in them more realistically, thus giving you some more leg room.

6. Replace Those Ugly Seats! The HW Elite (and SE) seats are softer rubber and come out easily. PMB! is currently working on 2 different versions of replacement seats. Both will look more like the original Futura seats. One version will have Butt-Print impressions molded into them especially to seat our figure sets. Sorry we can’t show all these things yet, but we have a few things on the front burners in front of these.

These are just a few of the ways you can achieve more room and/or screen-accuracy with the seating area in the Hot Wheels Batmobile. As our board members customize and fix their models, we will be undoubtedly adding other methods to this ongoing, collective guide. Please check in here periodically. The best place to see what other modelers are doing is to peruse our message board, where the best Batmobile modelers in the world share tips and secrets every day and are always willing to help you out.

Thanks.