I’ve covered a lot of contests MTV did in the 80’s and we’re going to be talking about another one in
today’s video. But while the contest winners in most of these stories had a lot to celebrate,
that wasn’t always the case. In fact, the winner of today's contest we're going to discuss
wished he handled things differently. Stay tuned for the full story.
In 1989 to celebrate the release of the new batman movie starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson,
MTV ran a contest called Steal the Batmobile . Here’s a promo the network ran. Do you have
the guts to steal the batmobile? Find out sunday between 6 and 8 pm 5 and 7
central when you see the mtv logo transform into the batmobile call the 1-900 number on
the screen immediately. The batmobile and $25,000 in cash could be all yours.
The contest winner would be a 23 year old bartender from Richmond, Virginia named Patrick
McLynn. McLynn didn’t own a car at the time, choosing to get around by skateboard & bike.
One night he was watching MTV at a friend’s house when the word Batman flashed on screen
during a Prince video which was tied into the movie. Also appearing on the screen was a phone
number. McLynn would tell UPI,com he called the number about 20 times
before he connected with an operator who took down his information down.
The operator told the bartender he would receive a call back the following morning,
but he didn’t hear anything, so he went back to bed. Then the following day at
noon he got the call that he had won the contest. Richmond magazine would report
that MTV received a million calls for the contest. After he was told he was the winner,
McLynn started phoning friends, and the local news channel WTVR but nobody believed him.
McLynn would tell the upi.com 'I grew up with Batman,' 'I've always liked the stories and
the art.' McLynn was an avid comic book collector and had dreams of attending art school. It would
turn out that the batmobile he would be awarded wouldn’t have an engine in it, as it was simply
a replica of the car that was used in the movie. McLynn would tell Upi.com that he was thinking
of putting an engine in the batmobile, but he would add telling the paper “but i don’t think
i could get it insured for the road" he'd say. Meanwhile he would tell the Richmond magazine
"The steering wheel worked, the brakes worked, the dials were in the cockpit.
But it didn't have an engine. You couldn't open the hood; the entire body had to be
lifted up to work inside it. It was a prop. You have to think of it like a big go-kart."
Shortly after winning the contest Mclynn and his uncle who worked at the same restaurant
tried to come up with ways to make money off the car. One idea that the pair were floating was
to bring the batmobile to state fairs, but it had turned out McLynn had signed a contract as part of
winning the mtv contest saying he couldn’t display the car for money. However, The Science Museum
of Virginia would end up putting the batmobile on display and ask for donations. It was during that
time someone stole the shift lever as well.. Shortly after winning the contest Mclynn
would also claim that he had already heard frm several people who were interested in buying the
car off of him, but the people at MTV suggested he hold onto the car for a little while longer .
The nearly 20-foot long batmobile allegedly cost $60,000 and
according to richmond magazine and i quote “was custom-built on an extended chevrolet
impala wheelbase by hollywood productions, the company that made the movie’s batmobiles.
The company provided a plaque for McLynn’s batmobile attesting that it was a replica.”
But McLynn had his suspicions thinking it was used in the movie and that the
company merely said it was a replica to lower it’s resale value telling richmond magazine
"I mean, it was made from a handmade metal frame, handmade fiberglass with eight layers
of lacquer. Why would you go through all that effort and not use it?" he’d say
Then On June 23, 1989 the batman movie would premiere at the local Ridge Cinema.
It was estimated that about800 people showed up to see Mclynn receive a $25,000 prop cheque
in the theatre’s parking lot from actor Robert Wuhl (wool) who played reporter Alexander Knox
in the film. After the presentation, McLynn would head into the theater and introduce the movie.
The bartender was planning on using some of his prize money to buy a motorcycle and visit some
friends in the eastern US in addition to help pay tuition to attend art school in the near future.
McLynn would end up buying that motorcycle that would be wrecked
a few years later in an accident. Things would take a strange turn when
the fabricators of the batmobile, Hollywood Productions wanted their
car back. McLynn would tell the new york post “I met three guys, who had built the car, in
a motel room near the movie theater in Richmond, Va., where [movie co-star] Robert Wuhl was going
to present it to me,”. “They told me they were willing to get the publicity and then buy the
car back. They offered to throw in a Corvette.” He wouldn’t take the deal, telling the post “it felt
like something out of ‘American Hustle.’ Richmond magazine would also report that in addition to the
corvette that was offered hollywood productions offered him $50,000 cash, but. "McLynn was hoping
to sell the car for $125,000 to $330,000 at the time, but it didn’t work out that way.
McLynn would end up regretting not taking the deal Of course, the IRS was soon on his
case with McLynn would tell the Post “They came after me for tax evasion,” McLynn would
end up owing the US government around $70,000 in taxes on his winnings. In the years that
followed McLynn would store the car in warehouses around town with him telling the new york post
“My friends and I would go to the Batmobile after work and sit inside, drinking Irish whiskey and
smoking joints,” In 2003 he finally sold the vehicle for a little over $100,000 telling
Richmond Magazine "I sold it for not a lot of money, but enough to settle my taxes and get
everything straightened out,"The only memory he had of the car after selling it,were some
photos he displayed at a restaurant that he was the co-owner of in 2005 called the Metro Grill.
The new york post would report that as of 2019 he was still iving in virginia and was working as a
technician for movies. 30 years after the contest, he felt bittersweet about the winning revealing
“How many people can say they owned a Batmobile?!”“it became a burden to me.
I offered the Bat­mobile to the IRS but they didn’t want it" he'd say. That does it for today's
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on rock n' roll true stories. take care. .