The word limousine dates back to the days before the motor car, when professional drivers were employed to look after a stable of horses. The word comes from the limousine region of France where shepherds wore a long hooded coat called a “limousine” to protect them from the harsh local weather.
The word “limousine” was then used for the covered compartment of delivery wagons and early motors cars in France. By the turn of the century the word had come to mean motor cars whose roof extended over the open drivers compartment.
The word chauffeur is also a French word meaning “stoker” and comes from the person whose job it was to stoke steam engines on trains. In the beginning a chauffeur was anybody who drove a car, be it owner or servant, but as cars evolved the chauffeur became known as a professional dedicated driver.
The limousine was once the luxury car of choice of heads of state or millionaires but now they are readily available to everyone for those special occasions in their lives.
The man credited with the spread of the limousine industry in the United States was James P. Carey who realised in 1921 that visitors to the city wanted a more luxurious alternative to the taxi; he built up his multi million dollar company on this idea.
The need for luxury transport in the 1920’s was seen as an great opportunity by car maker
Isotta Fraschini. Fraschini saw the growth of a wealthy middle class and met the demand with luxury limousines.
The Wall Street crash and depression in the 1930’s saw Isotta Fraschini go out of business but one of the few companies to emerge from this turbulent era was Cadillac. Cadillac managed to came through this period of depression and war and their 1939 model Cadillac 60 was a firm favourite of Hollywood movie stars of the era. In fact Cadillac’s Series 20 was in production from 1935 unit 1976.
In the 50’s the growth of the entertainment industry provided a new market for limousines. Elvis Presley was a big fan of Cadillac and used to give them as presents. World leaders also provided a market for these luxury cars. The Dutch Royal family also were fans of Cadillac and used them for 30 years until they switched to Ford.
Joseph Stalin gave Chairmen Mao a gift of five bullet proof limousines, however the rest of the Chinese Communist Party became jealous and so a hundred Chinese copies were made to keep everybody happy. Before he died Mao had commissioned a ten metre, six door, luxury limousine which was to include a fridge, TV, phone, desk, a double bed and a sofa. Mao’s aim was to promote the Chinese motor industry but he died before it was finished so he never got to see his dream car.
In the 60’s Rolls Royce and Mercedes were the European choice for limousines, while in the United States, Chrysler and Lincoln rose to challenge Cadillac’s dominance in this sector. One of the most famous limousine stories of the 60’s was Keith Moon (drummer of rock band The Who) driving his Rolls Royce in to a swimming pool!
In the 70’s the New York taxi strike of 1970 was to provide New Yorker David Klein with his break in the luxury transportation business. Klein had a vision of stretch limousines on every street corner and he is credited with the growth of limousine hire companies in the US.
Also in this era limousines started to take on the look that we see today, stretched up to 200 inches to accommodate all the extra toys that customers have now come to demand and expect!
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