Mark Towle is a

car mechanic An auto mechanic (automotive technician in most of North America, light vehicle technician in British English, and motor mechanic in Australian English) is a mechanic who services and repairs automobiles, sometimes specializing in one or more ...

and car and motorcycle restorer and

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

, best known as the owner of a car restoration and makeover shop called Gotham Garage based in

Temecula, California Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a t ...

. The shop has built

props A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...

for movie studios and television shows. In 2018, Netflix released '' Car Masters: Rust to Riches'', which features Towle and his Gotham Garage team. Earlier in 2015, Towle became a defendant in a copyright infringement case filed and subsequently won by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

regarding Towle's replication and sale of

Batmobile The Batmobile is the fictional car driven by the superhero Batman. Housed in the Batcave, which it accesses through a hidden entrance, the Batmobile is both a heavily armored tactical assault vehicle and a personalized custom-built pursuit a ...

s. Towle's and his Gotham Garage crew's 1:1 replica of the

Plymouth XNR The Plymouth XNR is a concept car developed by Chrysler. It was designed by Virgil Exner, and first shown in 1960. Also called the XNR 500, the car is an open roadster with some asymmetric features, and was proposed as a sporty addition to the ...

is displayed at the

Petersen Automotive Museum The Petersen Automotive Museum is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles. One of the world's largest automotive museums, the Petersen Automotive Museum is a nonprofit organization specializin ...

in Los Angeles. Other notable Gotham Garage rebuilds include the

Lincoln Futura The Lincoln Futura is a concept car promoted by Ford's Lincoln brand, designed by Ford's lead stylists Bill Schmidt and John Najjar, and hand-built by Ghia in Turin, Italy — at a cost of $250,000 (equivalent to $ in ). Displayed on the a ...

that Towle's team sold at the 2018

Grand National Roadster Show The Grand National Roadster Show (a.k.a.: GNRS, or sometimes referred to as ''Oakland Roadster Show'' but never officially called that), started in 1950, and is one of the oldest and longest continuously operating exhibitions of custom vehicles in t ...

(held at the

Pomona Fairplex Fairplex has been the home of the L.A. County Fair since 1922. Known prior to 1984 as the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, it is located in the city of Pomona, California. The L.A. County Fair is held during the month of May since 2022, but the fac ...

), shown in season 1 of ''Car Masters: Rust to Riches''.

References

Living people 1962 births People from Temecula, California People from Los Angeles American automobile designers Vehicle modification people Car restorers {{automobile-bio-stub