Spider-Man Fact — October 22, 2026

Today's Fact

Verified against three independent sources. Issue cited below.

Spidey got a car he never wanted — and dumped it in the river!

The Featured Fact

Spider-Man can swing across Manhattan faster than traffic — so naturally, in 1973, a car company tried to sell him a car. In Amazing Spider-Man #126, Corona Motors, promoting a new non-polluting engine through ad firm Carter & Lombardo, offered him cash to build and drive a Spider-Mobile. He called the idea first-class dumb and swung away — then remembered his rent was overdue, and took the money anyway. The dune-buggy Spider-Mobile made its full debut in Amazing Spider-Man #130 (March 1974), by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru.

Peter designed it, but he needed help building it, so he enlisted Johnny Storm, the Human Torch. The result could climb walls, project a Spider-Signal from its headlights, fire webbing and gas bombs, and disguise itself as an ordinary car. One problem: Peter had never learned to drive and had no licence. After a crash course, he used it to capture Hammerhead's thugs in #130 — his first and best outing behind the wheel.

It went downhill fast. In Amazing Spider-Man #141 (February 1975), the second Mysterio, Daniel Berkhart, tricked Spider-Man with mist and illusions into driving the Spider-Mobile straight into the Hudson River. Corona demanded its car back, but the Tinkerer had already fished it out and rebuilt it as a remote-controlled weapon — forcing Spider-Man to fight his own car before returning it, rather smashed. Behind the scenes, publisher Stan Lee had ordered the car so Marvel could pitch it to toy companies; Conway, who thought it was ridiculous, played it for laughs and sank it.

Why It's Obscure

A wall-crawler, a car he didn't want, a driving lesson he never got — and a river at the end of it.

1973

Amazing Spider-Man #126 — Corona Motors offers Spider-Man the Spider-Mobile deal to promote its non-polluting engine. He refuses on the spot, calling it dumb — because he can already web-swing everywhere.

1974

Amazing Spider-Man #130 — Broke and behind on rent, Peter relents. Built with the Human Torch, the Spider-Mobile debuts in full and helps capture Hammerhead's thugs.

1975

Amazing Spider-Man #141 — The second Mysterio's illusions send Spider-Man and the Spider-Mobile into the Hudson River. First appearance of Daniel Berkhart as Mysterio.

Aftermath

The Tinkerer recovered the wreck, weaponised it and sent it after Spider-Man by remote control. Spidey beat his own car and handed it back to Carter & Lombardo — a little smashed.

Trivia

Writer Gerry Conway later said Stan Lee ordered the car for toy-licensing reasons. Conway played it for laughs — and a duplicate Spider-Mobile later turned up on display at the Smithsonian.

Gallery

Art from the actual issue — no AI imagery, nothing mislabeled.

Amazing Spider-Man #130 cover: Spider-Man leaps over Hammerhead beside the red Spider-Mobile — **Amazing Spider-Man #130 (1974)**The Spider-Mobile's full debut — cover blurb: "You'll never believe the far-out, fabulous Spider-Mobile!" Spider-Man battles Hammerhead as the buggy looms behind him.

Comic panel: Johnny Storm unveils the Spider-Mobile as Spider-Man calls it a fiasco — **"Now that's what I call a fiasco"**Johnny Storm unveils the finished Spider-Mobile — wall-climbing dune buggy, Spider-Signal headlights and all — and Spider-Man's verdict is instant and unimpressed.

Sources

Every claim above is verified against at least two of these independent sources.

Bullpen Bulletins

Spider-Mobile — Marvel Database (Fandom)Corona Motors and Carter & Lombardo approach Spider-Man; he refuses as a dumb idea, relents for rent money, builds it with the Human Torch, captures Hammerhead's thugs, loses it in the river to Mysterio, then fights the Tinkerer's weaponised version.
Comic Book Legends Revealed #530 — CBRDebut in Amazing Spider-Man #130; Gerry Conway recounts Stan Lee ordering the car for toy-licensing reasons, playing it for laughs, and sinking it in #141; Len Wein later brought it back in #160 to destroy it.
How Spider-Man's version of the Batmobile was created — PopverseConway at San Diego Comic-Con 2013: Stan Lee, as publisher, told him "Spider-Man needs to have a car" after a toy-company approach; the Spider-Mobile was introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #130 (1974).