A look at limosuine luxury throughout time
Today, the term limousine normally refers to a vehicle with a lengthened wheelbase. They are usually luxury cars that histroically primarrely have been used by the powerful and rich, e.g. businessmen, important politicians and celebrities from the entertainment industry. In our day and age, limousines or limos as they are often called are commonly used for special occasions by ordinary families as well and can for instance be seen transporting students to prom or carrying celebrating women around during bachelorette parties.
During the early 20th century, the term limousine simple meant any car where the passangers where inside shielded from the elements and the driver was outside. Still today you can see that the driver is seperated into his own compartment even if he no longer have to sit outside subjected to the elements.
The first automobile limousine was built in 1902 and modelled after the sedan chairs used in France prior to the revolution. At this time you dont needed to make the limos extra luxurios as all cars where a luxury only llowed the rich and powerful. This was however brought to an end by a man named Henry Ford. The modestly priced Model T produced by Ford bumped the number of automobiles on U.S. roads from 8000 to 9 million in less than 20 years. The model T was still to expensive for most people but it still forced other car makes to maek their cars into something extra to make sure that they where seen as the luxury item they had been seen as in the past and one part of doing this was to invent the stretch limo.
Armbruster,a coach company, built the first stretch limop in Fort Smith, Arkansa in the 1920s. The vig cars became popular among the rich and among big bands that needed space for instruments and people. Early stretch limos were for instance used to chauffeur Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman around between gigs, earning the stretch limousine the nickname “big band bus”.
In the U.S., limousines especially the stretchy ones continued to be a symbol for upper class profligacy until the 1970s when more and more rental companies began to offer them for a price that could be afforded by middle-class consumers interested in celebrating special occasions like weddings. The large taxi strike in Manhattan also changed this as it showed a lot of regular new yorkers that limos could be used by regular residents, not just the super rich.
During the disco era, limos began to grow bigger and more outrageous than ever before and the makers of custom cars began experimenting with turning virtually anything into a limo; from VW bugs to pick-up trucks. During the mid 1990s, the SUV-limo suddenly appeared on the scene and soon the Hummer stretch limo had turned into an iconic as well as much ridiculed party car. If you want to know more about hummer limos, click this link.
Just like the Great Depression, the metal rationing of WWII and the oil crisis in the 70’s put a hamper on limousine manufacturing, issues like Global Warming and recurrent financial crises have put the limousine under questioning in the 21st century. Despite this, there is no sign of the limo trend trickling off. The limo that use to be a smbol of high society has made it down to today be associated with hen-nights and is likely to stay around as a party accessory for years to come.
