The Dark Knight Rises: Batman Tumbler and Bat Pod invade Canada

When it comes to a long legacy of movie star vehicles that Hollywood churns out, you don't have to look further than the Batman 70 year list of hero cars. The Batmobile has come in many versions over the last several decades and each year they become increasingly more complex and dare we say, bizarre creations that shock and amaze audiences worldwide. While everyone has their particular favourite Batmobile from sequels (and prequels) past, the latest iteration of vehicles built for the Dark Knight are absolutely striking.

We recently got a chance to get up close with two hero vehicles from the upcoming Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. Making several stops in Toronto were the funky, futuristic Bat Pod two-wheel motorcycle thing next to the outrageous flame-spitting Tumbler in all it's flat black glory. The Bad Pod is an industrial strength motorbike running Hoosier DOT drag tires on the front and back. We got an opportunity to hop aboard and we cannot figure out how anyone rides this thing! You are laid out nearly flat with your gut resting on a metal beam and your legs swept far back in weird stirrups. The front end features a massive front tire (along with armaments) that is very difficult to pivot around as we saw on set earlier this year.

The Tumbler however was really what we came for and we couldn't believe we were seeing, touching and hopping-in the only one left in existence. There were three of them as we caught in Pittsburgh last year but two have since been blown up for the movie, so this is one rare beast. In fact, the transport rep is the only guy in the world authorized to drive it (trust us, we asked). He explained that he couldn't talk about the running gear in the vehicle at all since it's kinda classified and obviously isn't the jet propulsion which appears in the movie. We heard it fire up and this is clearly an uncorked small block Chevy under the lid, channeled through a Ford 9-inch rear end driving massive off-road dually tires.

We also can't talk about what we saw in the cockpit, so don't even ask! But we can say it is our favourite Batmobile and the craftsmanship is impressive. Want to see more, well since the only Canadian dates are done (Toronto and Montreal) you'll have to dip across the border for a closer inspection.

Image Credit: Copyright 2012 Dave Pankew / AOL