Flying high
Jet off in your limousine
You might be justified in thinking that you were pretty much at the top of your game if you owned a limousine and a private jet, but it seems there is another level – a limo that is a private jet.
Or is that a private jet that is a limo? Whatever it is, you can now buy one.
Originally designed by a man named Dan Harris of Bend, Oregon, the ‘‘Learmousine’’ is a 13-metre-long oddity that apparently took more than 40,000 labour-hours to complete.
According to Mecum Auctions, where it is being offered for sale, a Learjet fuselage was mated to a custom steel skeletal frame that took Harris and Chicago-based firm Exotic Coach two years of research, design and development to build, including its patentpending rear engine bay, drivetrain, suspension and computer systems.
Constructed as a show car, the Learmousine is actually street legal (in the United States), despite being nearly 2.5 metres wide, and the tips of the tail fold inward ‘‘for tight spaces’’. The Learmousine is powered by an 8.1-litre Chevrolet Vortec V8 truck engine and rides on custom 28-inch red and black Diablo wheels with Kumho 325/25R28 tyres.
Inside, the driver’s cockpit features a ‘‘deep bucket seat’’, red carbon-fibre-look trim and four screens for the outboard cameras. Which would be necessary, to say the least.
Jet-style overhead toggles control the many internal and external effects and controls, including a Showtime Audio 17,000-watt audiovisual system, a 42-inch plasma television, multiple light panels and many speakers inside and out.
(Yes, the jet engine nacelles house ‘‘mammoth speakers’’ that can play jet engine sound effects.)
Up the back there’s seating for up to 18 people in diamond-stitched leather seats, with an infinity floor, a refreshment centre and, because it’s American, plenty of cup holders.
If you really need something like this in your life, head over to the Mecum Auctions website and check it out.
The auction takes place from June 23 to 28.
Oh, and it’s not just the Learmousine you are bidding on – it also comes with its own custom ‘‘Iron Bull’’ trailer and a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 to pull it.