May 15, 2021 • 36 mins
The first limousines weren’t even cars! Learn all about the history of limousines, how they’re made and some of the most creative and expensive amenities you can find inside them in this classic episode with Josh and Chuck.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello friends, this is your Friendly neighborhood podcast or Chuck
Bryant here How Limousines Work from November. There's more to
it than you think. It's not just a big long car.
Oh what kind of is? But there's more to it
than that. Check it out How Limousines Work. Welcome to
(00:20):
Stuff you Should Know, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey,
and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark with Charles W.
Chuck Bright, and Jerome Jerry Do we say your last
name these days? Now? We've never said it? Okay, She's like,
keep it that way, yeah, Jerome Jerry Blank, Jerry Blank.
(00:47):
That's a real person, right. No. She was on Strangers
and TV. Yeah, yeah, okay. I was like, man, I
know that name. Yeah, that name that was the character,
right yeah. Yeah. She really cleaned herself up and went
on to become a spokesperson for Dawney Any Sadarius Jay Blake,
Oh yeah they're one and the same. Yeah. I love
any Saderus like the Siderius is. Some people, don't, aren't
(01:09):
they fighting? Oh, Amy and David like a lot of
David and everybody else. I think he wrote like some
New Yorker article about his dead sister. There's sister who
I think I can't remember what happened, but she wrote
like a memoir about her, and I think the New
Yorker I got mad and the rest of his family
like called him out on like the inconsistencies and errors
(01:32):
and in fact, and maybe they were tired of it
because all he's done is right about his family. Yeah.
I guess they're like, that's it, David. Yeah, no more,
we're done. Cut us in or we're gonna cause big
trouble for you. I was about to do my David
Sedaris and then I realized, like, I don't do a
David Saderis in person. So I could, but yeah, I'm
(01:54):
not going to go there. So limos, Yeah, at least
some of the siderius is ride around in limit zines.
I bet they have, uh, And I can guarantee they
have because Chuck. It turns out the definition of a
limousine is way broader you would think, Yeah, it's it
doesn't necessarily mean some super stretch, no, but it can. Basically,
(02:17):
a limousine technically is any car with a roomier back
seat than the average car. And if you throw in
a driver, you're you're there's nobody who's going to say
that's not a limo. You can be like, yes it is,
yeah and be right. Yeah. Like, technically, if you want
to get a hire a town car to take you
to the airport, technically that's a limousine. Yeah, you know
(02:39):
the car services in New York, those are limos. That's right.
They have me in Atlanta too, Do they have a
car service here in Atlanta? Yeah? Are you getting me?
All I see are just the worst? Oh yes, yeah, yeah, yeah,
because there's a special tag. Yeah. Did you know that
Atlanta taxi drivers are the worst taxi drivers on the planet? Um?
(03:00):
Have you noticed from experience that it's pretty bad? But
I just uber it. Now, that's different. That's different than
the taxis. Oh no, that's what I'm saying. That's why
I uber it, because they're different than the taxis. Yeah. Seriously,
anybody who comes to Atlanta, if you make it out
of Hartsfield, look around at the taxis and how they drive,
(03:20):
your mind will be scrambled. It's crazy. I think cabbies
are kind of like that everywhere. No, no, like, very
frequently they are the best drivers in the entire city.
They know where they're going. They don't just meander, they
don't like drift into lanes, they don't drive super slow.
I've had the opposite experience most most cabs that I've
been in, the driver was pretty great. Usually when I'm
(03:41):
in a cab in New York City, I wonder, is
this the ride where we hit somebody or some other car. Yes,
but you don't, and they're going really fast. In Atlanta,
they drive ten miles an hour and hit everything. They
just sideswipe everything. Slow and lousy come to Atlanta. So anyway,
(04:02):
we're talking limousines. Man, let's get back on track. Yeah,
I should say to I hate limousines like I love
a good town car ride to or from an airport,
but as far as a stretch limousine, I just hate
that whole thing, just a little kind of hey look
at me. It's just dumb. It's longer, and it's got
(04:23):
a bar. It's just I don't know, I think the
whole thing is stupid and like just part of that
whole narcissistic culture that I despise. You know, I've got money,
so I wanted to be in a longer car with
a TV in it. Well, for a very long time.
If you wanted a TV in your car or a phone, Yeah,
(04:43):
your car better be double the size of the normal
version of it. All right, I just had to get
on my soapbox, like if it's for prom and you're
all going in, like I get like a fun thing
like that, but or a fur bus, the fur bus
for your niece's birthday, like we did that was fun?
What you never done that? No? I thought you were
saying we rented it for my niece's birthday. No, my
(05:05):
niece's birthday. You weren't a part of it. This is
my family and it wasn't invited. Scott invited me. This
is before I knew you, my friend. Um. Anyway, I
can see the fun of occasionally, but just as a
means of transportation, I think it's pretty obnoxious, especially those huge,
huge like hammer stretches. I just wanted, like to de
(05:25):
materialize those with my eyes. I wish I could shoot
laser beam indeed me and expose the people within just
all all of a sudden they're on the street with
their bourbon and coke on what happened to my super
stretched summer. I wonder how you'd have to do that. So,
like your your laser b my eyes would have to
just just kill people fiberglass, like destroy fiberglass and steel
(05:50):
and upholstery and rubber. Yeah, there you go. So uh,
I think, as we've stayed in, a limousine doesn't necessarily
have to be what you hate. It can all to
be just a car that's driven by somebody where you
got a roomy back seat for the passenger, my big trunk.
But even before that, even if you want to say, wow,
it's a broad definition of limousine, man, let's go even
(06:12):
further back and include clothing as a limousine in the
definition of limousines. That's right, because I learned, as I
imagine you did, the word limousine comes from a town
in France called Limousine. Limousine. We'd like to introduce our
new principal, Skinner principal. See we're skinner that that is
(06:35):
one of the all time greats. Um. Yes, it was
limousine without the E on the end. And like you said,
the original limousine wasn't a car. It was a kind
of like a little hooded raincoat that protected you. Yeah,
like little red riding hood wore a limousine. Yeah it was. Yeah,
a hooded cloak. And it was invented in limousin France,
and it became synonymous with limousine France because they called
(06:59):
it a limousine. That's right. Uh. So as people started
um building coaches that protected the rider the passenger from
the elements, they're like, wow, that's kind of like a
hooded cloak in a really weird way, a little bit
of a stretch. Let's start calling these limousines. Yeah, even
(07:20):
if it was a horse carriage. Um, the idea that
you were not driving this carriage and you had a
nice little comfy seat that's covered in the back, they
called it a limous scene and very frequently, probably all
the time is a better way to put it. Um,
The driver himself wasn't covered, like there was just the
passengers that were covered. Now you'll get reined on and
(07:41):
like it exactly if you complain, we'll put you on
the rack, that's right. Uh. And this continued until the
they started building regular as I think Jonathan Strickland wrote
this what he calls horseless carriages very cheekily a k a.
The automobile. Uh. And they called those limousines. And they
(08:02):
started like very early on in New York City they
started someone started a limousine service, I think in the twenties. Yeah,
is not too bad. Um. And these cars, the first early,
the earliest limousines were basically built from the ground up.
Like you, you built a car with the intention of
(08:23):
building a like a stretch, longer car, a limousine as
we understand it today. Um. And it might not be
like a stretch sedan. Some of the early limousines, um
looked a lot like station wagons or like an old
model T station wagon, you know what I'm saying. Um.
But very quickly these companies figured out that it would
(08:45):
be vastly easier to take an already manufactured car and
stretch it, basically do a conversion. And that became the
tradition for a very long time, thinks, starting in the twenties. Yeah.
And luxury cars obviously from the beginning were the prime
targets because this is what rich people were used to
having their fannies sit upon while they were being driven around.
(09:06):
So Mercedes, Benz and Cadillacs and Fleetwoods and LeBaron's, we're
all prime candidates. Even the famed Bentley had a limousine.
The ar Arnage that they made only twenty of Did
you look at that? It's pretty sweet? Yeah, I gotta admit, Yeah,
for a non limousine guy, I was like, that's kind
(09:28):
of nice. That's a very nice car. Uh. You ever
written in a Bentley for a new reason? I haven't either.
Now you can get a Chrysler that looks like a Bentley.
Was that the three hundred, I don't know. I call
I think it is the three Call him Fentley's for
some reason. Um. John Varvatos had a three hundred edition edition.
(09:48):
He's a clothing designer, and in the ad for his
edition of the Chrysler three hundred, it's him and Iggy Pop.
Just randomly. Iggy Pop is in the ad with him.
I guess they were getting wasted together that day that
he had to film. Did he have a shirt off?
I probably, I can't remember. Yeah, you don't seem with
a shirt that much. Uh. He's very proud of his wiry,
(10:11):
muscular body. I don't blame him. All right, I think
we've wasted enough time, So let's right after this break
talk about that limo conversion, because to me, that's about
the most interesting part of limousines. All Right, we're back,
(10:37):
and we were talking about limo conversion. Like you said,
early on they used to build a limo to be
a limo. Yeah, like just some guy would build a
car from the ground up and he would build an
extra long and that's where the early limousines came from. Yeah,
it was a company called arm Brewster in n Were
they Arkansas? It was, I think they're American. I don't
(10:58):
they are American. I don't remember if it's in Arkansas
or not, but it was actually I found in a
right up on the company from seven. It says three
is when they built their first limousine, and that by
at least six they were doing conversions. Because there's a
picture of an early stretched Buick that they made, and
they realized that conversions was where it was at. Right,
(11:22):
Let's take an existing car, cut it in half and
stick something in the middle of those two pieces, right,
because somebody else is going to the trouble of building
the engine, of designing, like the dynamics of figuring out
how to put the tires where and all that. Why
do all that? Like, Yeah, when you can just cut
a car in half, add more car, and yeah, add
more car than obam you have a stretched limousine. I
(11:43):
had no idea they did it this way. No. When
I read it the first time, I was like, surely
he just made a he has made a horseless carriage joke.
I know this must be a joke as well. Now
that's how a lot of limousines are made. And it's
funny you bring up the three hundred Chrysler three said,
the one that looks like a Bentley. Um, because I
saw um. I guess a test of one of them.
(12:06):
That was, like, Chrysler builds these three hundred stretch limousines.
How they do? Yeah, So if you see it Chrysler limousine,
it was built by Chrysler most likely, which is very
unique these days. Right, Yes, because for the most part,
like you're saying, the industry standard is some company will
get ahold of a Cadillac or a Lincoln town Car
(12:27):
cut in half like you say, and then add to
it and there's a stretched limousine. Yeah. The process goes
a little something like this. Uh. They stripped that sound
like I was gonna sing it, and they strip all
the interior out. They protect everything that's in there, obviously. Uh.
Strickland says, they use fire resistant paper on everything. Yeah, which, okay, sure,
(12:51):
why not? I guess you don't want it to catch
on fire. We're doing it. Um, you're going to mount
it on a set of rails that can be adjusted
to get your car off the ground. Keep it all
aligned properly because when you're adding more car you have
to have it super aligned. And then they cut the
thing in two pieces. Yeah, and not lengthwise, No, No,
(13:11):
that'd be weird. I guess you can make it a
lot wider, but you're you're looking for length, and maybe
that's the new limousine just wide. Um. Apparently the industry
agrees that you typically can't go more than double the
size the original size of the car. Um. Other than
after that, it's just probably not going to pass any
(13:32):
safety tests, which we'll talk about a minute. But once
the car is cut in half, hopefully you remember to
put the car on these rails that elevate it, and
that some of the rails are attached to a dolly,
so you can separate the car to the length you want.
If not, you have to basically throw it away and
started over. But so if you you pull one, usually
(13:55):
the rear back from the front and then you go
and add um ray basically the extenders that that are
going to lengthen the car. That's right. Uh, And like
I said, your car is is temporarily braced to keep
it from twisting or moving around because you want it
like to be super exact. Obviously, because if the front
(14:16):
of your car is a half inch to the right
from the rear of your car, because it's bad, you're
in um you then you're gonna add what's called the
floor plan or floor pan. Sorry, And it's basically the
floor of the lima, which will later on become carpeted
and upholstered and everything, but for the time being, it's
just a piece of metal that is the floor of
(14:37):
your new addition. Yeah, and that is after you have
done all the other boring stuff like extending the drive
line and making sure you have because you know you're
wiring is not long enough. Nothing is long enough and
you just have to know because you just cut in half. Yeah,
like he's a huge gap. You literally just have to
extend all those parts. Uh, you know, the brake line,
all that boring stuff. You have to just extend all
(14:58):
that stuff. Yeah, I excited about the floor pan and
you stick in your floor pan. And then you well,
hold on, I want to say something about the floor
pan and the drive line. So you've extended the power train, right,
the thing that that big thing that like powers the
back wheels, that no one knows what it is, right,
but you've extended that thing. Yeah, you just hear like
powertrain WARRANTINAM. People are always like, that's like the steering
(15:22):
and the axles and the thing that that spins around
and spins your rear axle and all that. That's your
power train. It's true. So you have to add to
that because you've just cut through it again. And then
you add the floor pan, which is the floor of
the limousine. Um. And do you remember that limousine fire
from I think last year a couple of years ago
(15:44):
killed the bride to be on the San Mateo Bridge. Um.
Apparently they the California Highway Patrol investigated and ruled in
an accident. But it was because the floor pan of
the limousine that had been added later was up against
the drive train and the friction created enough heat and
spark that apparently there's a crack in the floor pan
(16:06):
and that heat came up and caught the upholstery on fire,
and that's where the fire came from, was from this
modification that had taken place years before. Well, which is
one reason why uh, Cadillac doesn't want their name on
that limo, let's say, because it has been modified by
someone other than Cadillac. Right, but Cadillac's name is still
(16:28):
on the limo as far as the US government is concerned.
Once you cut a car in half and extend it,
you're the new manufacturer. Cadillac says, well, that's great. We've
got a bunch of yahoo's running around cutting our cars
in half, making them longer. But if somebody sees it
on the road, or somebody sees a photo of it
with the trunk burned out, they see the Cadillac. So
(16:51):
Cadillac and other companies like Ford have programs to basically
certify train and go back and um investigate uh the
people who are doing these conversions. Yeah, because we didn't mention.
But when you make a car uh substantially longer and heavier,
you might have to modify the brakes some you might
(17:11):
have to modify how it turns. You might have to
reinforce the suspension or the frame itself. Because You can't
just make a car twelve feet longer and expect it
to behave the same way right, exactly like the original
stopping power was for the twelve ft car at the
four car. So you do have to do some modifications. Yeah,
(17:33):
but those companies are super smart to have official programs,
I think, because every car, even if it is UH
modified later, has to to be roadworthy, has to pass
the federal Motor Vehicle Safety standards. That's right. Cadillacs program
is called the Cadillac Master Coach Builder Program. It's pretty awesome. Yeah.
Ford has something called the Qualified Vehicle Modifier Program, And
(17:55):
so basically they're saying, hey, if you're going to be
doing this, and you can really do this, we're going
to make sure you do it right. That's right, all right.
(18:25):
So we mentioned that the limo generally speaking, even though
they've gotten ridiculous these days, shouldn't be more than twice
as long as it originally was. UH. And since you
can't get that much longer, what you can do is
if you want to impress UH people and get their
business is trick it out on the interior as much
(18:46):
as possible. Yes, with you name it man and they've
got it. Yeah, plasma TVs and hot tubs and bars
and sound systems and like anything you can of. It's
it's a it's littered with neon and tacky things hit.
My opinion, tachy's the right word. I think, not for me.
(19:08):
Did you see um? If you go to the Ripley's
Believe it or Not Museum in Branson? Have you been there?
I saw a picture. I want to go to Branson
some day before Smirnov has his own place. Yeah, I'm going. Sure,
Humi's gonna take me surprise. That hasn't happened. I'm kind
of We've been going other places, but um, in Branson
(19:31):
there's a thirty ft pink Cadillac Stretch limousine that has
a heart shaped hot tub in the trunk area that
also has Josh's forty birthday written all over. Ye maybe
forty birthday present would be the limo itself. I like
(19:54):
to own it. Yeah. Yeah, just drive around Atlanta, that'd
be awesome. Drive around anywhere you can drive around Ransom,
it'd be fine. You've got like a hot tub in
your car. Uh. I love how Strickland also points out
I don't know when this was written. Muslims also have
telephones installed in case all fourteen of your cell phones
are broken. I made note of that as well. All right,
(20:15):
there's some other considerations if you want to drive a limo,
because you can be a private person and drive a
limo just like hire yourself out or go work for
some rich person. I thought you meant like the kind
of person who keeps to himself for herself. No, no, no no,
I mean you don't have to necessarily work for a
limousine company. You can just buy your limo and say
(20:36):
I'm I'm Chuck the limo driver, you know, or I
want to long as you have the proper hat. That's right,
You're fine and call yourself betterman. Um Licensing it depends
on what states you're in. Uh, it depends wildly. Some
states you can don't need any kind of special license.
Some states to say, fill out this form, probably give
(20:57):
us fifty bucks. Some say bring your limo, and although,
how would you do that if you're not licensed? I
guess tow truck. Yeah, get your limo here and take
this test in your limo to make sure you can
drive that behemoth blindfolded. Blindfolded part of the test, so
it all depends on what states you live in. Um,
safety standards are the same for any other car. Like
(21:18):
we said, yeah, and and the car that you bought
to convert already before you ever bought it went through
the the safety tests, but now that you've converted it,
it has to go through safety tests again. So they
include things like crash tests. And if you're interested in that,
there's Limo crash tests on YouTube. Does it show rich
(21:40):
people inside, like with their drinks flying around? Man? But
you you, uh, you're you're not down with the one percent,
are you? No? I just think a crash test dummy
and an eating gown might look funny. That's a funny
you say that because one of the ones, Um, I
guess it's some It is Australian Fifth Gear. Maybe it
(22:01):
seemed like it was pretty cheeky. They were clearly drunk
in the on the show. But it was like, um,
it was a Limo crash test and uh, they put
their clothes, their evening gown and tucks on crash test dummies.
So I mean, yeah, you have to look up fifth
Gear Limo. Um, I guess Limo crash test is what
(22:25):
would bring it up. And yeah, they're clearly drunk because
they spend the first like three minutes drinking and then
mooning people out of the limo. And I'm like, what
where is this thing from? And I saw as Australian o,
those wacky ausies. But it's pretty cool crash test because
they have some great cameras set up in like they
don't put seatbelts on the on the dummies. Fund Yeah,
(22:48):
it's pretty neat crash test. I do need to see
that because that's exactly what I was describing. And there's
another crash test too, it's way more boring. It's just
basically a series of still photos, which I guess you
can make the case like that's what all videos are,
but sure this is like really slow still photos. And hey, listen,
I don't want to We always say do what you
(23:10):
want to do. I'm not gonna poopoo. If you want
to go out and higher limo and with your friends
and drive around and get drunk and go to a
bunch of bars, it's fine, you know, it's just not
don't expect me to get in the car. Although I
would say the Wine Country limo is not a bad idea,
oh sure. Yeah. In fact, I think people in Wine
(23:30):
Country aren't too happy about them, you know, Oh, because
it's like a party bus kind of thing. Yeah. Basically like, well,
hey man, if you like have wine tastings every five feet,
what do you expect. Everybody there seems very cool because
you don't want to drink and drive. We went when
it was it was the off seasons all but everybody
(23:50):
was a little like more mellow. Yeah, because there weren't
a bunch of tourists around. Oh yeah, no, but you're right.
The people that live in Wine Country northern California, they're
a nicely back a lot. They are fairly laid back.
I think it is a good way to put because
they have the best job in the world. Um, we
have the best job in the world. That's right, if
we only made wine. Um, gas's got some going in
(24:13):
the toilet, some pruno. Gas mileage is a big consideration
because you're not going to get good gas mileage at all,
and you may as a company or an individual, I
have to pay an extra gas guzzler tax on each
vehicle in your fleet. On top of that, it's basically
like you know how you pay a lot of money
for gas, Well, now you have to pay even more
(24:33):
money because your thing uses up so much gas. Although
Strickland mentions a thirty two ft stretch Hummer limo that
a guy named Sean Murphy he misspelled his own name
on the cool Fuel road trip he used. He drove
Hummer limousine that ran on um a bunch of different
(24:54):
alternative fuels like biodiesel, methane, ethanol, vegetable oil, sugar. Wow.
It could also use geothermal, solar and wind energy. And
he got the limo up to seventy five an hour,
which sounds illegal to me. Yeah, you should not be
driving a thirty two ft anything sent I agree. Uh,
(25:14):
If you are interested in owning your own limousine to
be your own private little driver, it depends on what
kinds you get. Of course, you ma can get one
like a Lincoln Stretch for thirty to forty grand, or
you may pay three thousand if you want that super
stretch Hummer with the hot tub. I have the impression
that that the thirty grand Lincoln stretched like the hub
caps come off when you take corners and stuff like that. Yeah,
(25:39):
and I also bet that the one of twenty Bentley's
yeah go for way more than three k each. Do
you ever see someone driving around in an old limo
it's clear it's just their car. Then it's like a nine.
It's pretty sweet. It is sweet, but at the same time,
it's like, that's a really poor choice, especially if like
(25:59):
you're you're on a tight budget, right live in the
city with tight streets. How much money do you spend
on gas? Yeah, that's true? Should shout to him out
the window? Should we talk about presidential limousines a little bit?
Because I think those are kind of interesting. Um. They
call it the Secret seven and this great uh was
(26:22):
it popular mechanics article? Um in ninety nine and the
Sunshine Special. And up until this point, I think standard
automobiles had been used to drive presidents around and shuttle them.
But in nine this is we need something for the
secret Service. And we have a president uh in a
wheelchair that his name is Roosevelt, and he has certain
(26:44):
considerations right, plus at least one attempt has been made
on his life already, so we might want to think
about adding a little more security to these cars. And
that's exactly what they did. It was armored. The body
was armored. Was built by UH Coach Builders in Buffalo,
New York had oversize hinged doors, I guess to account
for that enormous wheelchair that they had back then, and UM,
(27:07):
lots of armor plating and even bulletproof glass UM, which
is kind of impressive. It looks like al Capone's car
if you ask me, it's pretty sweet. Uh. Then there's
the Lincoln Cosmopolitan. This was awesome. It was a Truman
Presidential Um limousine UM and it was basically for every
(27:32):
with every new limousine that came along, UM, there were
new innovations. It became heavier and more armor plated and
just safer. And this one came with a bubble top
UM because it was a convertible. But Truman realized that
like if he had the top up when it was
super safe, no one could see him. So he had
(27:55):
the bubble top installed, kind of like the Popemobile. Yeah,
that's what I was gonna say. Is that what it's like?
I think? All right? Um, And that one UM was
retired to the Henry Ford Museum, as was the Sunshine
Special in Dearborn, Michigan. So if you've ever been there,
you've probably seen a few of these on display. Kennedy's
(28:16):
famous car that he was in in November nineteen when
he was assassinated. Was a nineteen sixty one Lincoln Continental convertible. Obviously,
but it was still safe. Um. Not with the top
down obviously, but they had certain safety features built in. Um.
(28:36):
They had a rear seat that was well, this wasn't
a safety feature, but that had a rear seat that
could be raised and lowered to give people a better view.
They had a metal hoop behind the driver, behind the
driver's seat so when the president's standing up they can
hold onto something. But it was armored after his assassination
(28:56):
with a permanent bulletproof hardtop and then aft in the fleet,
which really surprised me. Yeah. I would have thought they
would have completely retired that car or just given it
to a museum or destroyed it or something. But yeah,
leaving in the fleet. That's Penny pension. Yeah, and that
is in the Henry Ford Museum now as well. Oh
bet the Lincoln Continental that President Ford and Reagan, the
(29:22):
same car that they were both shuttled into after assassination attempts. Famously,
this this this is the limousine that reminds me of
like Old Times Square in New York, like where like
basket Case was set, you know like this. I never
saw that. It's worth seeing at least once just to
say you saw a basket case Old City Times Square. Yeah,
(29:45):
I got ad just a taste of that when I
first started going to New York in the in the nineties.
There were there were still some peep shows and stuff around,
and it was just starting to be like Disney Fight.
As it said, I missed it entirely. He did miss much,
but man alive. You can go to Red Lobster there. Now.
(30:06):
I know. It's funny how people pine like remember when
it was crappy and those crime and drugs. I mean,
I can understand being like, yes, this corporate stuff is
just dumb or whatever, but people are very nostalgic for
for old crappy Time Square. Yeah. Uh. The nine eight
three Cadillac Fleetwood was used in the early nineteen eighties,
(30:29):
and that one one of those, there was a pair
of him was used in the movie In the Line
of Fire with Clint Eastwood. Yeah, pretty neat. Remember he
played the the guy who didn't get to Kennedy in
time when he was assassinated. It haunted him. Oh was
that his backstory? Yeah? And John Malkovitch was like a
total weirdo. Sure he was right, who used a wooden gun?
(30:50):
I don't remember a lot about that movie for some reason.
It's a lot of detail, Josh. Then there's the Bush era. Yeah,
Cadillac Deville, which is I mean I associate that with
Bush down I'm looking at it. Yeah, it was a
g m oh, I'm sorry. It was a Cadillac Devil,
of course. But it was built on the frame of
a GM SUV. Supposedly smart. Yeah. Um, five inch thick
(31:14):
armor doors, bulletproof glass so thick it blocks out parts
of the light spectrum apparently, so everything looks blue maybe
from the inside, and you go insane. Uh. And it
was rumored to feature a what they called the self
contained passenger compartment with its own secure air supply. So
(31:34):
I guess, just like a chamber to hide someone in
inside there. Crazy. And then lastly, check the most recent one.
Um came out in two thousand nine, and it's a
Cadillac too. Um. And it came out I guess just
in time for Obama's inauguration. Yeah. And this one they
started to be a lot more secretive about um, like
(31:55):
how they're made. Yeah, exactly, Um, but they have pretty
speculation that you know, it's armor plated underneath all around. Um,
they think it's diesel powered, but they don't know for sure.
And uh, good luck, Like this thing is like a
tank on wheels. Good luck penetrating that Cadillac. Yes, you know.
(32:18):
So there's one other thing I want to point out
if you are into limos, especially extreme limos. There's another
popular mechanics um article called stretched out ten extreme limos
that you sent like Lamborghinis and stuff. Yeah, Lamborghini's monster
trucks and I looked it up. Apparently there's a lot
of monster chuck limos. Yeah. I also found online DeLorean limo.
(32:41):
Oh wow, yeah, I'd like to see that. Yeah, it's
worth looking at. Um there's a semi limo. Yeah. That
one is basically like a large apartment on wheels, like
you can have a party for fifty people. There's multiple bars.
Did you see inside It looks like an Applebe's on wheels.
Is it a fern bar? Yeah. There's a lot of like, um,
(33:02):
polished brass railings and like the carpeting and the poulster.
It looks like an apple Bee's. It's very strange. Well,
you can't account for good taste. It looks pretty sweet though. Yeah,
I'm sure that anybody who there's through like three three
different lounges in there, wow. Three. And then a Mexican
company converted us I think a seven forty seven O
(33:23):
seven into um a limo. It took the wings off.
There are TV shows out there that you can view
all these things, uh extreme everything. Oh, I'm sure. I'm
sure there's also TV shows about the people who repo
them to. So if you want to know more about limos,
(33:44):
you can start by typing that word in the search
bart how stuff works dot com. And since I said that,
it's time for a listener, male, I'm gonna call this
funny homeless story, if there is such a thing. Uh
this um April has been working in New York City,
but I gather that she is in Atlanta and she's
just there for work for a period of time. You're
(34:06):
Josh and Chuck, I missed the Old Times Square. She
she did say that, now I'm kidding. Um. She talks
about how she listens to us on the train there
in her community, New York City, and she feels really
bad for homeless people, but especially when she sees a
homeless person with a dog. Um, She says, after passing
several homeless people in New York people dog combos this weekend,
(34:30):
my grand plan is to stop at a pet store,
get some dog food and treats, and have cash available
for the next homeless pair so I could help out
and hopefully you have a conversation with him to make
them feel human for a little bit. This is April,
You're awesome, by the way, UM, I bought my supplies,
and two blocks from the store, I see a homeless
man with a husky, and I think perfect. One of
(34:52):
my dogs is a husky, so I'm partial to them.
After having a five minute conversation with Michael petting his dog,
giving him dog food and some money for a nice meal,
I get ready to leave, and as I'm about to
walk away, he said, thanks for the dog food, but
it's not my dog. I'm just watching it for someone
in the building. Awkward, I ultimately asked if the dog
had a home and food. He said yes, so I
(35:14):
asked if I could take the dog food back so
I could give it to a dog in need. He agreed,
and hopefully he was able to get a nice meal
himself and appreciated my conversation and didn't think I was
too crazy, and then went on to walk thirty blocks
to my hotel with a relatively heavy bag of dog
food without seeing another almost bet good thing because it
didn't have any more cash with the person and it
(35:36):
probably would have been weird to give a person dog
food but nothing to help him or her. Um Me
and my bag of food will be walking around various
New York City neighborhoods this weekend, though, because now it
is my mission to help someone out. It's been a
good little reminder for me to be thankful for what
to have, especially as we approach winter up here. And
that is from April Cummings. That's very nice of your April.
(35:58):
Very cool. I hope you find a homeless dog in
person that you can help out. If you want to
share a story about you how you're making the world
a better place, we want to hear about it. You
can tweet it to us at s y SK podcast.
You can join us on Facebook dot com slash stuff
you Should Know. You can send us an email to
Stuff Podcast at how Stuff Works dot com, and as always,
(36:19):
join us at our home on the web Stuff you
Should Know dot com Stuff you Should Know is a
production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts my heart Radio,
visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
Hello friends, this is your Friendly neighborhood podcast or Chuck
Bryant here How Limousines Work from November. There's more to
it than you think. It's not just a big long car.
Oh what kind of is? But there's more to it
than that. Check it out How Limousines Work. Welcome to
(00:20):
Stuff you Should Know, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey,
and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark with Charles W.
Chuck Bright, and Jerome Jerry Do we say your last
name these days? Now? We've never said it? Okay, She's like,
keep it that way, yeah, Jerome Jerry Blank, Jerry Blank.
(00:47):
That's a real person, right. No. She was on Strangers
and TV. Yeah, yeah, okay. I was like, man, I
know that name. Yeah, that name that was the character,
right yeah. Yeah. She really cleaned herself up and went
on to become a spokesperson for Dawney Any Sadarius Jay Blake,
Oh yeah they're one and the same. Yeah. I love
any Saderus like the Siderius is. Some people, don't, aren't
(01:09):
they fighting? Oh, Amy and David like a lot of
David and everybody else. I think he wrote like some
New Yorker article about his dead sister. There's sister who
I think I can't remember what happened, but she wrote
like a memoir about her, and I think the New
Yorker I got mad and the rest of his family
like called him out on like the inconsistencies and errors
(01:32):
and in fact, and maybe they were tired of it
because all he's done is right about his family. Yeah.
I guess they're like, that's it, David. Yeah, no more,
we're done. Cut us in or we're gonna cause big
trouble for you. I was about to do my David
Sedaris and then I realized, like, I don't do a
David Saderis in person. So I could, but yeah, I'm
(01:54):
not going to go there. So limos, Yeah, at least
some of the siderius is ride around in limit zines.
I bet they have, uh, And I can guarantee they
have because Chuck. It turns out the definition of a
limousine is way broader you would think, Yeah, it's it
doesn't necessarily mean some super stretch, no, but it can. Basically,
(02:17):
a limousine technically is any car with a roomier back
seat than the average car. And if you throw in
a driver, you're you're there's nobody who's going to say
that's not a limo. You can be like, yes it is,
yeah and be right. Yeah. Like, technically, if you want
to get a hire a town car to take you
to the airport, technically that's a limousine. Yeah, you know
(02:39):
the car services in New York, those are limos. That's right.
They have me in Atlanta too, Do they have a
car service here in Atlanta? Yeah? Are you getting me?
All I see are just the worst? Oh yes, yeah, yeah, yeah,
because there's a special tag. Yeah. Did you know that
Atlanta taxi drivers are the worst taxi drivers on the planet? Um?
(03:00):
Have you noticed from experience that it's pretty bad? But
I just uber it. Now, that's different. That's different than
the taxis. Oh no, that's what I'm saying. That's why
I uber it, because they're different than the taxis. Yeah. Seriously,
anybody who comes to Atlanta, if you make it out
of Hartsfield, look around at the taxis and how they drive,
(03:20):
your mind will be scrambled. It's crazy. I think cabbies
are kind of like that everywhere. No, no, like, very
frequently they are the best drivers in the entire city.
They know where they're going. They don't just meander, they
don't like drift into lanes, they don't drive super slow.
I've had the opposite experience most most cabs that I've
been in, the driver was pretty great. Usually when I'm
(03:41):
in a cab in New York City, I wonder, is
this the ride where we hit somebody or some other car. Yes,
but you don't, and they're going really fast. In Atlanta,
they drive ten miles an hour and hit everything. They
just sideswipe everything. Slow and lousy come to Atlanta. So anyway,
(04:02):
we're talking limousines. Man, let's get back on track. Yeah,
I should say to I hate limousines like I love
a good town car ride to or from an airport,
but as far as a stretch limousine, I just hate
that whole thing, just a little kind of hey look
at me. It's just dumb. It's longer, and it's got
(04:23):
a bar. It's just I don't know, I think the
whole thing is stupid and like just part of that
whole narcissistic culture that I despise. You know, I've got money,
so I wanted to be in a longer car with
a TV in it. Well, for a very long time.
If you wanted a TV in your car or a phone, Yeah,
(04:43):
your car better be double the size of the normal
version of it. All right, I just had to get
on my soapbox, like if it's for prom and you're
all going in, like I get like a fun thing
like that, but or a fur bus, the fur bus
for your niece's birthday, like we did that was fun?
What you never done that? No? I thought you were
saying we rented it for my niece's birthday. No, my
(05:05):
niece's birthday. You weren't a part of it. This is
my family and it wasn't invited. Scott invited me. This
is before I knew you, my friend. Um. Anyway, I
can see the fun of occasionally, but just as a
means of transportation, I think it's pretty obnoxious, especially those huge,
huge like hammer stretches. I just wanted, like to de
(05:25):
materialize those with my eyes. I wish I could shoot
laser beam indeed me and expose the people within just
all all of a sudden they're on the street with
their bourbon and coke on what happened to my super
stretched summer. I wonder how you'd have to do that. So,
like your your laser b my eyes would have to
just just kill people fiberglass, like destroy fiberglass and steel
(05:50):
and upholstery and rubber. Yeah, there you go. So uh,
I think, as we've stayed in, a limousine doesn't necessarily
have to be what you hate. It can all to
be just a car that's driven by somebody where you
got a roomy back seat for the passenger, my big trunk.
But even before that, even if you want to say, wow,
it's a broad definition of limousine, man, let's go even
(06:12):
further back and include clothing as a limousine in the
definition of limousines. That's right, because I learned, as I
imagine you did, the word limousine comes from a town
in France called Limousine. Limousine. We'd like to introduce our
new principal, Skinner principal. See we're skinner that that is
(06:35):
one of the all time greats. Um. Yes, it was
limousine without the E on the end. And like you said,
the original limousine wasn't a car. It was a kind
of like a little hooded raincoat that protected you. Yeah,
like little red riding hood wore a limousine. Yeah it was. Yeah,
a hooded cloak. And it was invented in limousin France,
and it became synonymous with limousine France because they called
(06:59):
it a limousine. That's right. Uh. So as people started
um building coaches that protected the rider the passenger from
the elements, they're like, wow, that's kind of like a
hooded cloak in a really weird way, a little bit
of a stretch. Let's start calling these limousines. Yeah, even
(07:20):
if it was a horse carriage. Um, the idea that
you were not driving this carriage and you had a
nice little comfy seat that's covered in the back, they
called it a limous scene and very frequently, probably all
the time is a better way to put it. Um,
The driver himself wasn't covered, like there was just the
passengers that were covered. Now you'll get reined on and
(07:41):
like it exactly if you complain, we'll put you on
the rack, that's right. Uh. And this continued until the
they started building regular as I think Jonathan Strickland wrote
this what he calls horseless carriages very cheekily a k a.
The automobile. Uh. And they called those limousines. And they
(08:02):
started like very early on in New York City they
started someone started a limousine service, I think in the twenties. Yeah,
is not too bad. Um. And these cars, the first early,
the earliest limousines were basically built from the ground up.
Like you, you built a car with the intention of
(08:23):
building a like a stretch, longer car, a limousine as
we understand it today. Um. And it might not be
like a stretch sedan. Some of the early limousines, um
looked a lot like station wagons or like an old
model T station wagon, you know what I'm saying. Um.
But very quickly these companies figured out that it would
(08:45):
be vastly easier to take an already manufactured car and
stretch it, basically do a conversion. And that became the
tradition for a very long time, thinks, starting in the twenties. Yeah.
And luxury cars obviously from the beginning were the prime
targets because this is what rich people were used to
having their fannies sit upon while they were being driven around.
(09:06):
So Mercedes, Benz and Cadillacs and Fleetwoods and LeBaron's, we're
all prime candidates. Even the famed Bentley had a limousine.
The ar Arnage that they made only twenty of Did
you look at that? It's pretty sweet? Yeah, I gotta admit, Yeah,
for a non limousine guy, I was like, that's kind
(09:28):
of nice. That's a very nice car. Uh. You ever
written in a Bentley for a new reason? I haven't either.
Now you can get a Chrysler that looks like a Bentley.
Was that the three hundred, I don't know. I call
I think it is the three Call him Fentley's for
some reason. Um. John Varvatos had a three hundred edition edition.
(09:48):
He's a clothing designer, and in the ad for his
edition of the Chrysler three hundred, it's him and Iggy Pop.
Just randomly. Iggy Pop is in the ad with him.
I guess they were getting wasted together that day that
he had to film. Did he have a shirt off?
I probably, I can't remember. Yeah, you don't seem with
a shirt that much. Uh. He's very proud of his wiry,
(10:11):
muscular body. I don't blame him. All right, I think
we've wasted enough time, So let's right after this break
talk about that limo conversion, because to me, that's about
the most interesting part of limousines. All Right, we're back,
(10:37):
and we were talking about limo conversion. Like you said,
early on they used to build a limo to be
a limo. Yeah, like just some guy would build a
car from the ground up and he would build an
extra long and that's where the early limousines came from. Yeah,
it was a company called arm Brewster in n Were
they Arkansas? It was, I think they're American. I don't
(10:58):
they are American. I don't remember if it's in Arkansas
or not, but it was actually I found in a
right up on the company from seven. It says three
is when they built their first limousine, and that by
at least six they were doing conversions. Because there's a
picture of an early stretched Buick that they made, and
they realized that conversions was where it was at. Right,
(11:22):
Let's take an existing car, cut it in half and
stick something in the middle of those two pieces, right,
because somebody else is going to the trouble of building
the engine, of designing, like the dynamics of figuring out
how to put the tires where and all that. Why
do all that? Like, Yeah, when you can just cut
a car in half, add more car, and yeah, add
more car than obam you have a stretched limousine. I
(11:43):
had no idea they did it this way. No. When
I read it the first time, I was like, surely
he just made a he has made a horseless carriage joke.
I know this must be a joke as well. Now
that's how a lot of limousines are made. And it's
funny you bring up the three hundred Chrysler three said,
the one that looks like a Bentley. Um, because I
saw um. I guess a test of one of them.
(12:06):
That was, like, Chrysler builds these three hundred stretch limousines.
How they do? Yeah, So if you see it Chrysler limousine,
it was built by Chrysler most likely, which is very
unique these days. Right, Yes, because for the most part,
like you're saying, the industry standard is some company will
get ahold of a Cadillac or a Lincoln town Car
(12:27):
cut in half like you say, and then add to
it and there's a stretched limousine. Yeah. The process goes
a little something like this. Uh. They stripped that sound
like I was gonna sing it, and they strip all
the interior out. They protect everything that's in there, obviously. Uh.
Strickland says, they use fire resistant paper on everything. Yeah, which, okay, sure,
(12:51):
why not? I guess you don't want it to catch
on fire. We're doing it. Um, you're going to mount
it on a set of rails that can be adjusted
to get your car off the ground. Keep it all
aligned properly because when you're adding more car you have
to have it super aligned. And then they cut the
thing in two pieces. Yeah, and not lengthwise, No, No,
(13:11):
that'd be weird. I guess you can make it a
lot wider, but you're you're looking for length, and maybe
that's the new limousine just wide. Um. Apparently the industry
agrees that you typically can't go more than double the
size the original size of the car. Um. Other than
after that, it's just probably not going to pass any
(13:32):
safety tests, which we'll talk about a minute. But once
the car is cut in half, hopefully you remember to
put the car on these rails that elevate it, and
that some of the rails are attached to a dolly,
so you can separate the car to the length you want.
If not, you have to basically throw it away and
started over. But so if you you pull one, usually
(13:55):
the rear back from the front and then you go
and add um ray basically the extenders that that are
going to lengthen the car. That's right. Uh, And like
I said, your car is is temporarily braced to keep
it from twisting or moving around because you want it
like to be super exact. Obviously, because if the front
(14:16):
of your car is a half inch to the right
from the rear of your car, because it's bad, you're
in um you then you're gonna add what's called the
floor plan or floor pan. Sorry, And it's basically the
floor of the lima, which will later on become carpeted
and upholstered and everything, but for the time being, it's
just a piece of metal that is the floor of
(14:37):
your new addition. Yeah, and that is after you have
done all the other boring stuff like extending the drive
line and making sure you have because you know you're
wiring is not long enough. Nothing is long enough and
you just have to know because you just cut in half. Yeah,
like he's a huge gap. You literally just have to
extend all those parts. Uh, you know, the brake line,
all that boring stuff. You have to just extend all
(14:58):
that stuff. Yeah, I excited about the floor pan and
you stick in your floor pan. And then you well,
hold on, I want to say something about the floor
pan and the drive line. So you've extended the power train, right,
the thing that that big thing that like powers the
back wheels, that no one knows what it is, right,
but you've extended that thing. Yeah, you just hear like
powertrain WARRANTINAM. People are always like, that's like the steering
(15:22):
and the axles and the thing that that spins around
and spins your rear axle and all that. That's your
power train. It's true. So you have to add to
that because you've just cut through it again. And then
you add the floor pan, which is the floor of
the limousine. Um. And do you remember that limousine fire
from I think last year a couple of years ago
(15:44):
killed the bride to be on the San Mateo Bridge. Um.
Apparently they the California Highway Patrol investigated and ruled in
an accident. But it was because the floor pan of
the limousine that had been added later was up against
the drive train and the friction created enough heat and
spark that apparently there's a crack in the floor pan
(16:06):
and that heat came up and caught the upholstery on fire,
and that's where the fire came from, was from this
modification that had taken place years before. Well, which is
one reason why uh, Cadillac doesn't want their name on
that limo, let's say, because it has been modified by
someone other than Cadillac. Right, but Cadillac's name is still
(16:28):
on the limo as far as the US government is concerned.
Once you cut a car in half and extend it,
you're the new manufacturer. Cadillac says, well, that's great. We've
got a bunch of yahoo's running around cutting our cars
in half, making them longer. But if somebody sees it
on the road, or somebody sees a photo of it
with the trunk burned out, they see the Cadillac. So
(16:51):
Cadillac and other companies like Ford have programs to basically
certify train and go back and um investigate uh the
people who are doing these conversions. Yeah, because we didn't mention.
But when you make a car uh substantially longer and heavier,
you might have to modify the brakes some you might
(17:11):
have to modify how it turns. You might have to
reinforce the suspension or the frame itself. Because You can't
just make a car twelve feet longer and expect it
to behave the same way right, exactly like the original
stopping power was for the twelve ft car at the
four car. So you do have to do some modifications. Yeah,
(17:33):
but those companies are super smart to have official programs,
I think, because every car, even if it is UH
modified later, has to to be roadworthy, has to pass
the federal Motor Vehicle Safety standards. That's right. Cadillacs program
is called the Cadillac Master Coach Builder Program. It's pretty awesome. Yeah.
Ford has something called the Qualified Vehicle Modifier Program, And
(17:55):
so basically they're saying, hey, if you're going to be
doing this, and you can really do this, we're going
to make sure you do it right. That's right, all right.
(18:25):
So we mentioned that the limo generally speaking, even though
they've gotten ridiculous these days, shouldn't be more than twice
as long as it originally was. UH. And since you
can't get that much longer, what you can do is
if you want to impress UH people and get their
business is trick it out on the interior as much
(18:46):
as possible. Yes, with you name it man and they've
got it. Yeah, plasma TVs and hot tubs and bars
and sound systems and like anything you can of. It's
it's a it's littered with neon and tacky things hit.
My opinion, tachy's the right word. I think, not for me.
(19:08):
Did you see um? If you go to the Ripley's
Believe it or Not Museum in Branson? Have you been there?
I saw a picture. I want to go to Branson
some day before Smirnov has his own place. Yeah, I'm going. Sure,
Humi's gonna take me surprise. That hasn't happened. I'm kind
of We've been going other places, but um, in Branson
(19:31):
there's a thirty ft pink Cadillac Stretch limousine that has
a heart shaped hot tub in the trunk area that
also has Josh's forty birthday written all over. Ye maybe
forty birthday present would be the limo itself. I like
(19:54):
to own it. Yeah. Yeah, just drive around Atlanta, that'd
be awesome. Drive around anywhere you can drive around Ransom,
it'd be fine. You've got like a hot tub in
your car. Uh. I love how Strickland also points out
I don't know when this was written. Muslims also have
telephones installed in case all fourteen of your cell phones
are broken. I made note of that as well. All right,
(20:15):
there's some other considerations if you want to drive a limo,
because you can be a private person and drive a
limo just like hire yourself out or go work for
some rich person. I thought you meant like the kind
of person who keeps to himself for herself. No, no, no no,
I mean you don't have to necessarily work for a
limousine company. You can just buy your limo and say
(20:36):
I'm I'm Chuck the limo driver, you know, or I
want to long as you have the proper hat. That's right,
You're fine and call yourself betterman. Um Licensing it depends
on what states you're in. Uh, it depends wildly. Some
states you can don't need any kind of special license.
Some states to say, fill out this form, probably give
(20:57):
us fifty bucks. Some say bring your limo, and although,
how would you do that if you're not licensed? I
guess tow truck. Yeah, get your limo here and take
this test in your limo to make sure you can
drive that behemoth blindfolded. Blindfolded part of the test, so
it all depends on what states you live in. Um,
safety standards are the same for any other car. Like
(21:18):
we said, yeah, and and the car that you bought
to convert already before you ever bought it went through
the the safety tests, but now that you've converted it,
it has to go through safety tests again. So they
include things like crash tests. And if you're interested in that,
there's Limo crash tests on YouTube. Does it show rich
(21:40):
people inside, like with their drinks flying around? Man? But
you you, uh, you're you're not down with the one percent,
are you? No? I just think a crash test dummy
and an eating gown might look funny. That's a funny
you say that because one of the ones, Um, I
guess it's some It is Australian Fifth Gear. Maybe it
(22:01):
seemed like it was pretty cheeky. They were clearly drunk
in the on the show. But it was like, um,
it was a Limo crash test and uh, they put
their clothes, their evening gown and tucks on crash test dummies.
So I mean, yeah, you have to look up fifth
Gear Limo. Um, I guess Limo crash test is what
(22:25):
would bring it up. And yeah, they're clearly drunk because
they spend the first like three minutes drinking and then
mooning people out of the limo. And I'm like, what
where is this thing from? And I saw as Australian o,
those wacky ausies. But it's pretty cool crash test because
they have some great cameras set up in like they
don't put seatbelts on the on the dummies. Fund Yeah,
(22:48):
it's pretty neat crash test. I do need to see
that because that's exactly what I was describing. And there's
another crash test too, it's way more boring. It's just
basically a series of still photos, which I guess you
can make the case like that's what all videos are,
but sure this is like really slow still photos. And hey, listen,
I don't want to We always say do what you
(23:10):
want to do. I'm not gonna poopoo. If you want
to go out and higher limo and with your friends
and drive around and get drunk and go to a
bunch of bars, it's fine, you know, it's just not
don't expect me to get in the car. Although I
would say the Wine Country limo is not a bad idea,
oh sure. Yeah. In fact, I think people in Wine
(23:30):
Country aren't too happy about them, you know, Oh, because
it's like a party bus kind of thing. Yeah. Basically like, well,
hey man, if you like have wine tastings every five feet,
what do you expect. Everybody there seems very cool because
you don't want to drink and drive. We went when
it was it was the off seasons all but everybody
(23:50):
was a little like more mellow. Yeah, because there weren't
a bunch of tourists around. Oh yeah, no, but you're right.
The people that live in Wine Country northern California, they're
a nicely back a lot. They are fairly laid back.
I think it is a good way to put because
they have the best job in the world. Um, we
have the best job in the world. That's right, if
we only made wine. Um, gas's got some going in
(24:13):
the toilet, some pruno. Gas mileage is a big consideration
because you're not going to get good gas mileage at all,
and you may as a company or an individual, I
have to pay an extra gas guzzler tax on each
vehicle in your fleet. On top of that, it's basically
like you know how you pay a lot of money
for gas, Well, now you have to pay even more
(24:33):
money because your thing uses up so much gas. Although
Strickland mentions a thirty two ft stretch Hummer limo that
a guy named Sean Murphy he misspelled his own name
on the cool Fuel road trip he used. He drove
Hummer limousine that ran on um a bunch of different
(24:54):
alternative fuels like biodiesel, methane, ethanol, vegetable oil, sugar. Wow.
It could also use geothermal, solar and wind energy. And
he got the limo up to seventy five an hour,
which sounds illegal to me. Yeah, you should not be
driving a thirty two ft anything sent I agree. Uh,
(25:14):
If you are interested in owning your own limousine to
be your own private little driver, it depends on what
kinds you get. Of course, you ma can get one
like a Lincoln Stretch for thirty to forty grand, or
you may pay three thousand if you want that super
stretch Hummer with the hot tub. I have the impression
that that the thirty grand Lincoln stretched like the hub
caps come off when you take corners and stuff like that. Yeah,
(25:39):
and I also bet that the one of twenty Bentley's
yeah go for way more than three k each. Do
you ever see someone driving around in an old limo
it's clear it's just their car. Then it's like a nine.
It's pretty sweet. It is sweet, but at the same time,
it's like, that's a really poor choice, especially if like
(25:59):
you're you're on a tight budget, right live in the
city with tight streets. How much money do you spend
on gas? Yeah, that's true? Should shout to him out
the window? Should we talk about presidential limousines a little bit?
Because I think those are kind of interesting. Um. They
call it the Secret seven and this great uh was
(26:22):
it popular mechanics article? Um in ninety nine and the
Sunshine Special. And up until this point, I think standard
automobiles had been used to drive presidents around and shuttle them.
But in nine this is we need something for the
secret Service. And we have a president uh in a
wheelchair that his name is Roosevelt, and he has certain
(26:44):
considerations right, plus at least one attempt has been made
on his life already, so we might want to think
about adding a little more security to these cars. And
that's exactly what they did. It was armored. The body
was armored. Was built by UH Coach Builders in Buffalo,
New York had oversize hinged doors, I guess to account
for that enormous wheelchair that they had back then, and UM,
(27:07):
lots of armor plating and even bulletproof glass UM, which
is kind of impressive. It looks like al Capone's car
if you ask me, it's pretty sweet. Uh. Then there's
the Lincoln Cosmopolitan. This was awesome. It was a Truman
Presidential Um limousine UM and it was basically for every
(27:32):
with every new limousine that came along, UM, there were
new innovations. It became heavier and more armor plated and
just safer. And this one came with a bubble top
UM because it was a convertible. But Truman realized that
like if he had the top up when it was
super safe, no one could see him. So he had
(27:55):
the bubble top installed, kind of like the Popemobile. Yeah,
that's what I was gonna say. Is that what it's like?
I think? All right? Um, And that one UM was
retired to the Henry Ford Museum, as was the Sunshine
Special in Dearborn, Michigan. So if you've ever been there,
you've probably seen a few of these on display. Kennedy's
(28:16):
famous car that he was in in November nineteen when
he was assassinated. Was a nineteen sixty one Lincoln Continental convertible. Obviously,
but it was still safe. Um. Not with the top
down obviously, but they had certain safety features built in. Um.
(28:36):
They had a rear seat that was well, this wasn't
a safety feature, but that had a rear seat that
could be raised and lowered to give people a better view.
They had a metal hoop behind the driver, behind the
driver's seat so when the president's standing up they can
hold onto something. But it was armored after his assassination
(28:56):
with a permanent bulletproof hardtop and then aft in the fleet,
which really surprised me. Yeah. I would have thought they
would have completely retired that car or just given it
to a museum or destroyed it or something. But yeah,
leaving in the fleet. That's Penny pension. Yeah, and that
is in the Henry Ford Museum now as well. Oh
bet the Lincoln Continental that President Ford and Reagan, the
(29:22):
same car that they were both shuttled into after assassination attempts. Famously,
this this this is the limousine that reminds me of
like Old Times Square in New York, like where like
basket Case was set, you know like this. I never
saw that. It's worth seeing at least once just to
say you saw a basket case Old City Times Square. Yeah,
(29:45):
I got ad just a taste of that when I
first started going to New York in the in the nineties.
There were there were still some peep shows and stuff around,
and it was just starting to be like Disney Fight.
As it said, I missed it entirely. He did miss much,
but man alive. You can go to Red Lobster there. Now.
(30:06):
I know. It's funny how people pine like remember when
it was crappy and those crime and drugs. I mean,
I can understand being like, yes, this corporate stuff is
just dumb or whatever, but people are very nostalgic for
for old crappy Time Square. Yeah. Uh. The nine eight
three Cadillac Fleetwood was used in the early nineteen eighties,
(30:29):
and that one one of those, there was a pair
of him was used in the movie In the Line
of Fire with Clint Eastwood. Yeah, pretty neat. Remember he
played the the guy who didn't get to Kennedy in
time when he was assassinated. It haunted him. Oh was
that his backstory? Yeah? And John Malkovitch was like a
total weirdo. Sure he was right, who used a wooden gun?
(30:50):
I don't remember a lot about that movie for some reason.
It's a lot of detail, Josh. Then there's the Bush era. Yeah,
Cadillac Deville, which is I mean I associate that with
Bush down I'm looking at it. Yeah, it was a
g m oh, I'm sorry. It was a Cadillac Devil,
of course. But it was built on the frame of
a GM SUV. Supposedly smart. Yeah. Um, five inch thick
(31:14):
armor doors, bulletproof glass so thick it blocks out parts
of the light spectrum apparently, so everything looks blue maybe
from the inside, and you go insane. Uh. And it
was rumored to feature a what they called the self
contained passenger compartment with its own secure air supply. So
(31:34):
I guess, just like a chamber to hide someone in
inside there. Crazy. And then lastly, check the most recent one.
Um came out in two thousand nine, and it's a
Cadillac too. Um. And it came out I guess just
in time for Obama's inauguration. Yeah. And this one they
started to be a lot more secretive about um, like
(31:55):
how they're made. Yeah, exactly, Um, but they have pretty
speculation that you know, it's armor plated underneath all around. Um,
they think it's diesel powered, but they don't know for sure.
And uh, good luck, Like this thing is like a
tank on wheels. Good luck penetrating that Cadillac. Yes, you know.
(32:18):
So there's one other thing I want to point out
if you are into limos, especially extreme limos. There's another
popular mechanics um article called stretched out ten extreme limos
that you sent like Lamborghinis and stuff. Yeah, Lamborghini's monster
trucks and I looked it up. Apparently there's a lot
of monster chuck limos. Yeah. I also found online DeLorean limo.
(32:41):
Oh wow, yeah, I'd like to see that. Yeah, it's
worth looking at. Um there's a semi limo. Yeah. That
one is basically like a large apartment on wheels, like
you can have a party for fifty people. There's multiple bars.
Did you see inside It looks like an Applebe's on wheels.
Is it a fern bar? Yeah. There's a lot of like, um,
(33:02):
polished brass railings and like the carpeting and the poulster.
It looks like an apple Bee's. It's very strange. Well,
you can't account for good taste. It looks pretty sweet though. Yeah,
I'm sure that anybody who there's through like three three
different lounges in there, wow. Three. And then a Mexican
company converted us I think a seven forty seven O
(33:23):
seven into um a limo. It took the wings off.
There are TV shows out there that you can view
all these things, uh extreme everything. Oh, I'm sure. I'm
sure there's also TV shows about the people who repo
them to. So if you want to know more about limos,
(33:44):
you can start by typing that word in the search
bart how stuff works dot com. And since I said that,
it's time for a listener, male, I'm gonna call this
funny homeless story, if there is such a thing. Uh
this um April has been working in New York City,
but I gather that she is in Atlanta and she's
just there for work for a period of time. You're
(34:06):
Josh and Chuck, I missed the Old Times Square. She
she did say that, now I'm kidding. Um. She talks
about how she listens to us on the train there
in her community, New York City, and she feels really
bad for homeless people, but especially when she sees a
homeless person with a dog. Um, She says, after passing
several homeless people in New York people dog combos this weekend,
(34:30):
my grand plan is to stop at a pet store,
get some dog food and treats, and have cash available
for the next homeless pair so I could help out
and hopefully you have a conversation with him to make
them feel human for a little bit. This is April,
You're awesome, by the way, UM, I bought my supplies,
and two blocks from the store, I see a homeless
man with a husky, and I think perfect. One of
(34:52):
my dogs is a husky, so I'm partial to them.
After having a five minute conversation with Michael petting his dog,
giving him dog food and some money for a nice meal,
I get ready to leave, and as I'm about to
walk away, he said, thanks for the dog food, but
it's not my dog. I'm just watching it for someone
in the building. Awkward, I ultimately asked if the dog
had a home and food. He said yes, so I
(35:14):
asked if I could take the dog food back so
I could give it to a dog in need. He agreed,
and hopefully he was able to get a nice meal
himself and appreciated my conversation and didn't think I was
too crazy, and then went on to walk thirty blocks
to my hotel with a relatively heavy bag of dog
food without seeing another almost bet good thing because it
didn't have any more cash with the person and it
(35:36):
probably would have been weird to give a person dog
food but nothing to help him or her. Um Me
and my bag of food will be walking around various
New York City neighborhoods this weekend, though, because now it
is my mission to help someone out. It's been a
good little reminder for me to be thankful for what
to have, especially as we approach winter up here. And
that is from April Cummings. That's very nice of your April.
(35:58):
Very cool. I hope you find a homeless dog in
person that you can help out. If you want to
share a story about you how you're making the world
a better place, we want to hear about it. You
can tweet it to us at s y SK podcast.
You can join us on Facebook dot com slash stuff
you Should Know. You can send us an email to
Stuff Podcast at how Stuff Works dot com, and as always,
(36:19):
join us at our home on the web Stuff you
Should Know dot com Stuff you Should Know is a
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Chuck Bryant
Josh Clark
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