THIS, is why I am not THE LEAST bit impressed by peoples misplaced exaltation of fucking Limousines.
Because I have worked on the miserable Hack Jobs and I know what’s under the skin of these overblown skateboards.
Plywood, screws and brackets with electrical wires and heater hoses just laying on the floor behind them.
Home made wooden boxes with heater cores and air conditioning units glued to the damn floor.
All covered up with upholstery glued over foam onto the plywood.
Multiple drivelines spliced together with carrier bearings and hoops to keep them from falling down into the ground.
Frames hacked and spliced together, I have literally seen these things up in the air on two post hosts and sagging so hard in the middle the doors won’t open and those fancy windows in the middle were popping out of the frames.
Oh but they look so nice don’t they?
They just ooze money and power going down the road.
You should try parking one of the miserable bastards inside a shop sometime, let alone work on one.
I had to empty out four work stalls just to get one turned ninety degrees and get it into the work stall I was going to tear into it in.
Then the real fun started.
The best part?
It was the exact same make and model as the one in the picture.
My first thought seeing that photo and knowing the ‘accident’ history of those things was “They are inherently structurally deficient”.
Look nice? Yeah, if you want to die in a nice looking death trap. How you went ought to impress your friends. Have at it.
If you want some fun, search U-toob for the “Top Gear” where the guys made their own limos.
Jeremy was naturally over the top and Capt. Slow over-engineered his IIRR.
Then they had to take them into inner town London and navagate those narrow twisting streets.
Guess the race. Oooops…RAYYYCISSS!
So, did the one you worked on resemble the condition of the one in the photo??
For fun, you should go “under the skin” of RV’s and see just how terrible THEY are for the money they want for them! My Beaver is built on a Gillig chassis and is indeed one sturdy mother. In a crash, the only thing that could crush me is a fully-loaded dump or cement truck!
Proud to say I’ve never , ridden in, rented or wanted to. Nope
I always thought those things has a “flexi-flyer” look about them.
My only curiosity about them was where did the builder get the sheetmetal that went into the “stretch” part.
Other than funerals, I don’t see limos too often anymore and I don’t miss them.
It’s the same way with boats, though. The nicer the pleasureboat, the worse it’s built. My first lobsterboat was built in the 70’s, and is still going today, on the 3rd owner now. Hull is 2 inches thick. Today a modern pleasureboat is a balsawood core with 1/4 inch of fiberglass over it. The more expensive the boat, the more expensive the cheap plastic headliner and vinyl sheeting that covers the cheap construction.