Amavubi
JF-Expert Member
- Dec 9, 2010
- 30,154
- 13,267
The limousine could be driven in its straight-as-an-arrow state, or reset to bend in the middle. The separate driver’s cabin was rather necessary in order to negotiate any turn, and the ‘backseat driver’ would steer the rear axles. Expectedly, this movie car and display vehicle was not road legal, and period photos show that the American Dream was detachable in the midsection and could be trailered on flatbed trucks from location to location.
But its ‘longest car in the world’ claim to fame apparently couldn’t save it from an eventual demise. The American Dream was leased to a company which used it as a promotional vehicle, and upon the end of the lease, its caretakers abandoned it in a New Jersey warehouse. The car resurfaced in 2012 at a salvage auction needing major repairs - damage to the body, tears in the roof, broken windows, and a rusty jacuzzi - it didn’t look promising.
However, the story has taken a positive turn. In 2014, New York’s Autoseum Automotive Teaching Museumannounced that the American Dream limousine had been acquired and will now be used to help teach students to fix, build and fabricate cars. Given its sheer size though, this restoration project may take some time.
