No. What you see here is not a flying car, or neither is it a drag speedster destined for Salt Flats. But it is indeed a real aircraft fuselage, except that it no longer flies. This bizarre automobile is a thing, made from an actual Lear Jet private jet and hence the name Limo-Jet. Because of the fact that it is an aircraft fuselage, it has to take on the open wheel design which, together with the vertical tail, does make it looks like land speed contender.
Little is known about what goes under the hood. All we know is it is driven by a GM Vortec V8 engine and the pair of engine cowl is now home to fancy LED lights and wait for it… speakers inside them. So, basically this is a giant speaker system on wheels too. What a way to party, eh? Speaking of party… the cabin feels like a private booth straight out of a nightclub.
While the skin does look like it was plugged straight from a Lear Jet, much have to done to ensure the unusually long and slender body can stand the rigor of everyday road use. For this purpose, specialists were enlisted to reinforce the fuselage with steel and outfitted it with a steel chassis. Suspension and electrical system have to be custom too because, this ain’t your typical ‘car’ or ‘limo’.
It is 11.6 feet (3.5 meters) tall and stretches 42 feet (about 13 meters), and that kind of gives stretched limousine a whole new meaning. It is quite a heft too, coming in at a grand 12,000 lbs (5,440 kilos). To get an idea of massive this Limo-Jet is, just have a look at this picture:
The Limo-Jet practically dwarf the MINI. Even a full-size SUV seems tiny. And mind you, a MINI is not exactly mini. If the size does not turn heads, I am 100 percent sure a Lear Jet running on enormous 28-inch wheel will. Incredibly, this thing is totally road-legal, well, at least it is in stateside. No price has been pegged to it, but according to a report, the misfit behind this crazy contraption said it’s in “the seven-figure range.”
But before you reach for your wallet, you have to know this here is not for sale yet. It will do special events for now. More will be built, but again, no timeline is given. I suspect it won’t be soon, since the first one you see here took several years to complete. Granted, the next one that rolls out of Limo-Jet’s ‘hanger’ will be a lot quicker since now that they understand the process better.
You can learn more and also see more of Limo-Jet, including the build process, over at its Facebook page.
Images: Facebook.
Source: Motor1 via LuxuryLaunches.