They plan to auction the replica car off at the end of filming to cover the costs of postproduction.

Already having the hero's car will help keep the project on budget, Perez said.

Sculptor Oscar Pumpin of Tarpon Springs, Fla., had built the car as an art piece over the last two years, and recently donated it to the film project.

The Batmobile car replicates the sleek vehicle with tiny cockpit and bat-wing fins driven in the 1995 film "Batman Forever."

"It's all about the car in this type of movie, and we've got it," Perez said. "We needed something to turn heads."

The Batmobile did just that on Monday, said Judy Smith, Smith's wife, who pointed out a silver hairdryer, galvanized trashcan and PVC pipes on the sculpture to the steady stream of people who stopped to gawk.

"We've laughed all afternoon," she said. "I was afraid it was going to cause some wrecks."

Perez said he wants to give Smith the role as an aging superhero in the film to thank him for his help with the car.

Smith laughed off the idea of playing Batman, but said that the visit from the Batmobile was quite an experience.

"It's one of the most unusual, exotic pieces I've ever worked on," he said, as drivers rubbernecked from MacCorkle Avenue and pulled into the parking lot to snap photos.

"I'll work on him. Maybe he'll play the part after all," Judy Smith said.

Reach Kellen Henry at khe...@wvgazette.com">khe...@wvgazette.com or 348-5179.

ST. ALBANS, W.Va. -- David Smith has rebuilt a lot of hot rods over the years, but the auto repairman never expected he'd spend Monday putting the finishing touches on an iridescent purple Batmobile.

Smith and his employees at David Smith Frame & Body Shop in St. Albans agreed to help make a movie replica fit for the road, after a return customer came in looking for a hand on Monday morning.

The car's fiberglass frame was built over a working engine and chassis, but Smith put on smaller tires and cut away part of the sculpture that prevented the Batmobile from turning properly.

"I won't be putting an inspection sticker on it, but I don't know what cop would pull it over, either," Smith said with a chuckle.

Robert Perez, a Charleston carpenter-turned-actor, transported the car from Florida last week to use in an independent film he wants to produce in West Virginia.

Perez's movie will be pay homage to the crime-fighting DC Comics hero and will star his 9-year-old son, Robbie Perez.

"The aging Batman-character moves to West Virginia and his grandson finds the Batmobile in a barn and is inspired to serve justice himself," Perez said.

Because of copyrights, the film will be based on a hero only similar to Batman, but Perez said the concept is more about a family secret inspiring a young boy to do good.

"I wanted to do something for my kid, to give him the opportunity I didn't have to start young," Perez said.

Perez, who acts under the name Robbie M. DeNiro, said he has had several walk-on roles in film and TV projects, but this will be his first production project.

He will be looking for local talent once the film gets rolling, including college students interested in learning production and special effects.

Perez wants to begin filming in Charleston, Huntington and Putnam County by November, after the script is completed. He said he has about $50,000 in funding from a group of investors for the Screen Actors Guild low-budget production.

They plan to auction the replica car off at the end of filming to cover the costs of postproduction.

Already having the hero's car will help keep the project on budget, Perez said.

Sculptor Oscar Pumpin of Tarpon Springs, Fla., had built the car as an art piece over the last two years, and recently donated it to the film project.

The Batmobile car replicates the sleek vehicle with tiny cockpit and bat-wing fins driven in the 1995 film "Batman Forever."

"It's all about the car in this type of movie, and we've got it," Perez said. "We needed something to turn heads."

The Batmobile did just that on Monday, said Judy Smith, Smith's wife, who pointed out a silver hairdryer, galvanized trashcan and PVC pipes on the sculpture to the steady stream of people who stopped to gawk.

"We've laughed all afternoon," she said. "I was afraid it was going to cause some wrecks."

Perez said he wants to give Smith the role as an aging superhero in the film to thank him for his help with the car.

Smith laughed off the idea of playing Batman, but said that the visit from the Batmobile was quite an experience.

"It's one of the most unusual, exotic pieces I've ever worked on," he said, as drivers rubbernecked from MacCorkle Avenue and pulled into the parking lot to snap photos.

"I'll work on him. Maybe he'll play the part after all," Judy Smith said.

Reach Kellen Henry at khe...@wvgazette.com">khe...@wvgazette.com or 348-5179.