One of cinema’s most recognisable cars is heading to auction for the first time. The screen-used No. 1 Hero Batmobile from Tim Burton’s Batman Returns is being offered more than three decades after Michael Keaton’s second outing as the Dark Knight.

The Batmobile design was first introduced in Burton’s 1989 Batman under production designer Anton Furst, with concept work and illustrations by Julian Caldow. For Batman Returns, custom-car builder Carl Casper and Hollywood Productions were commissioned to construct three further cars based on that design. This example became the principal Hero car and can be screen-matched to the majority of the film’s driving sequences, with its jet-inspired bodywork and glossy black finish.

At roughly 19 ft 8 in long, the car’s structure combines two spliced Chevrolet Impala chassis beneath a hand-built fibreglass body, with the stretched nose dominated by a simulated jet-turbine intake and the rear wrapped in huge sculpted wings and air intakes. Power comes from a Chevrolet V8, sent through a three-speed automatic transmission.

The two-seat cockpit continues the aviation theme with aircraft-style instrumentation and various visual-effects controls. Even the famous flaming exhaust was functional for filming, using a radio-controlled system to ignite a pressurised mixture of air and kerosene. The auction car’s physical appearance has not been altered since production, and its black paint remains original. After filming, it appeared at the movie’s premiere and a Warner Bros. backlot party before spending years in storage and later going on display at the Marconi Automotive Museum.

The car will headline The Ultimate Batmobile Auction, presented by Julien’s Auctions and Turner Classic Movies in Los Angeles and online on 23 November. Estimated at $5 million to $7 million, it will be joined by Batman costumes, props, production artefacts and other memorabilia spanning the franchise’s film and television history.