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While discussing the beacon cage above, it has been thought maybe it came off of something else and was used over the Batmobile's revolving red light beacon. Let's think about that revolving light for a change. There were many brands in the 1960's, several named are Federal, Federal-Ray, Federal Sign and Signal Corp., Mars, Sireno, Signal Stat, Electraray, Dietz and Tripp Lite.
What I noticed in these B/W shot of the vintage #1, was that on top there are 3 circular areas, 2 smaller (raised) and a larger centered circular area. These are inclosed inside a color change (density/thickness?) larger circular area. By chance I saw this old ebay auction for a red TRIPP LITE rotating beacon. Compare the configuration of the center of the top of this light to that of the Batmobile's light. (and also the slope angle of it's top edge)




Since this was an ended auction I contacted the winning bidder and offered a fair purchase price above his bid and he wanted to keep it. I also asked for some exacting specs and additional pictures (I even offered some funds for his time and effort) but he never replied, however the auction text stated


"It is 7 1/4" tall and 6" round. The metal plate is: Made By Tripp Lite A Division of tripp Mfg. Co. Chicago 6, Illinois. Model MV 2, Volts 12"

I assume this is the vintage 1960's era model (notice the spring clip holding on the red top to the base) as TRIPP made beacons into the 1980's.

"TRIPP LITE" has a sister company "TRI LITE" who is still in business today and manufactures these MV 2 beacon lights. The later MV 2 specs are: diameter at the top is 4 1/4in, diameter at the base is 6in, height is 7in tall. Here are a couple of website that sell them.
website 1
website 2

Here are some measurements that have been posted on the board of members constructed beacons.



height 6 5/8"

flange to flange 6"

bottom flange diameter 8 1/4"

top flange diameter 5 3/4"

slot length 3"

height 6.0"

flange to flange 5 1/2"

bottom flange diameter 7 3/8"

top flange diameter 5 1/4"

slot length 2 3/4"

Eric's posted specs

Inside top diameter--4.5 inches

Outside top diamete--5.5 inches

Height--7"

Now assuming the vintage 60's TRIPP LITE was in fact the red inner beacon (or any other brand for that matter), it seem highly unlikely that the cage came from something else. 1) The circumference of top opening to allow the top portion of the red dome through is exact, however since the Tripp is slightly sloped it could have been pushed up, a snug tight fit?, 2) more important, the upwards (top 1/2) placement of the oblong windows (not the entire length) in the cage sides allows for the hiding of the silver/aluminum bottom base (containing the motor) of the red beacon. Even if this is not the exact model what are odds that a pre-made cage, off of something else would fit this exact, including cut out windows hiding the base unit and manufacture's plate area from view?

Now another question to be answered is, was this cage made specifically for the Batmobile's light during the Batmobile construction time frame, formed around a bare "TRIPP LITE" MV2 (or other), or perhaps this combo unit was found already together, build by someone else prior and then just used on the Batmobile?