Oak Lawn Batmobile Ready to Make America Great Again

OAK LAWN, IL — Pow! Boff! Zwap! Did you know Oak Lawn has its own Batmobile? And it’s ready to fight crime and make America great again.

Pop culture enthusiast Tom Repetny purchased a replica of the Batmobile featured in the first Batman reboot from 1989 starring Michael Keaton. When he’s not out fighting crime, Repetny rents out the Batmobile and uses it for charity events.

Repetny purchased the vehicle in 1998 for $5,000 after seeing an ad in the Chicago Sun-Times — because who doesn’t need their own personal Batmobile? Like its movie counterpart, the Oak Lawn Batmobile is black with a subtle purple tint.

“Batman uses it to fight crime, so it’s a little beat up,” Repetny said. “It’s not going to be perfect.”

In 2008, Repetny parted ways with his beloved Batmobile by putting a crazy price on it for a Mancow Muller charitable auction.

“We put it in to help [Muller]. I didn’t want to sell it, but it sold,” Repetny said. “I put a lot of money into it.”

But the Batmobile and Oak Lawn’s secret caped crusader’s paths were destined to cross again. Repetny saw his beloved Batmobile a few years later on the TV show "Pawn Stars."

“It was bought by a billionaire,” he said. “He had three other Batmobiles; I asked if I could come see it. I had tears in my eyes because he wasn’t taking care of it. It was filthy.”

Repetny asked the guy if he could wash it. He spent the next three days cleaning and polishing it.

“The owner was very emotional, it was so beautiful,” Repetny said. “He threw the keys at me and told me to take it home.”

Now the Batmobile is parked on Repetny’s driveway. He says he has strangers coming up all the time to look at it.

The bulletproof Batmobile has a V8 engine and weighs 5,000 pounds. The inside is tricked out with secret switches.

“It has a smart bomb and real machine guns, a laser cannon and a lie detector machine,” Repetny said. "I can make it go invisible. You need it all to fight crime. I can actually blow up your car.”

One of the few things the Batmobile can’t do is go down curbs. Repetny says he has to have it towed to special appearances.

“We did something for the Boy Scouts in Green Bay last summer,” he said. “It takes an hour and a half to load it on to a flatbed tow truck. It cost us $1,989 to haul it there.”

The Oak Lawn Batmobile has been known to suddenly appear at the Children’s Museum, a church car show, or pitch in at a local food drive.

Repetny runs into his house and puts on his Michael Keaton Batman suit, which he says cost half of what he paid for his Batmobile in 1998. Asked if he goes out to fight Oak Lawn’s drug dealers or at least kill a few rats in Chicago Ridge, Repetny says: “I try to.”

He climbs down into the Batmobile. Someone hands him his young son, George Ringo. We take a few pictures.

Repetny wants to reach Donald Trump’s people so he can help the GOP presidential nominee.

“The Oak Lawn Batmobile is ready to help,” Repetny said. “You couldn’t write this election. I think if he wins he’ll go down as one of our greatest presidents or one of our worst. There’ll be no in-between. The country will either be great or in the toilet.”

Are you listening, Donald?

To find out about renting the Batmobile for your wedding or other event, visit the Oak Lawn Batmobile Rental Facebook page.

Photo: Oak Lawn caped crusader Tom Repetny and his Batmobile. | Oak Lawn Batmobile Rental Facebook