At the onset, one can commend the cars for being true to their moniker as they, especially since they have those teeny red dots on the front end (lights or eyes, you tell me), appear to be bats, only with wings retracted. But, despite basking in the glory of being sleek blueprints for future Batmobiles, these cars, a collaborative effort of Bertone and Alfa Romeo, are not tagged as such just to show what those nocturnal flyers will look like once translated to vehicles, but simply to represent Alfa Romeo’s then thrust called the “Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica” (BAT), which aimed to create cars with the lowest possible drag coefficient.

The Bertone Alfa Romeo BAT 5,6, and 7, which were all presented at the Turin Auto Show (although in different years), impressively attained their goal and, too, classily represented aerodynamics, which then led to the achievement of wind resistance better than most of today’s so-called streamlined cars. The BATs, by the way, are also considered speed demons as they can survive the 125mph-mark.

In 2008, a similar BAT model came out. Dubbed BAT 11, this green-skinned BAT made its first appearance in the Geneva Auto Show.

Meanwhile, the three original BATs are now exhibited at the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, CA.