Once again, captivating audiences, the resplendent 100-foot-long Cadillac undergoes a remarkable revival. Embodying the essence of The American Dream, it proudly claims the prestigious title of the world’s longest limousine, certified by the esteemed Guinness World Records organization.
Standing tall at precisely 100 feet and 1.5 inches, its dominance appears unchallenged. However, the true marvel lies not only in the grandeur of this colossal Cadillac, weighing over 25,000 pounds and featuring a helipad, but also in the extraordinary feat of restoring it to its former glory. In a state of deplorable disrepair, this limousine was a deteriorated wreck, necessitating an enormous endeavor to resurrect its magnificence.
Abandoned in New York, it was first hauled to the Autoseum for an ill-fated restoration attempt. Then, with some difficulty (and a hood that flew off en route, never to be seen again), it was trucked down to the Dezerland Park car museum for another go—in several pieces—for another effort at revival. Here’s what it looked like in 2013:
Well, that effort has succeeded, as you can see. Michael Dezer—a prominent real estate developer in New York and Florida—and Michael Manning of Autoseum worked together to make it happen. Along the way, three Cadillacs were cannibalized, and untold amount of rust was removed, yards of leather and vinyl and carpet were employed, and the engine(s) were replaced. The subframe looks more like a bridge truss than anything you’d find in a vehicle, and in fact Manning admits rebuilding it was more of a civil engineering project than an automotive restoration.
Video:
No fewer than six Eldorados were conjoined during the original construction of this 24-wheeled monster, conceived by Jay Ohrberg of Burbank, Calif.—the guy behind a few cars you may have heard of, like KITT from Knight Rider and the DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future. Originally, the vehicle had a swivel function, in order to attempt to navigate corners with more grace. It’s not clear if that feature was retained in the restoration. Its tail housed a helipad, whose surface could be used as a putting green whenever the chopper wasn’t around. In its original iteration, it also had two engines, dozens of windows, TVs, telephones, a lounge, a waterbed, a jacuzzi, and a swimming pool with a diving board.
The American Dream is now functional, to the extent that it can be. With this length and an attendant cruise-ship-like turning radius, you can’t simply drive this thing around. You need to carefully plan a route to make sure it has room to maneuver. Get it stuck and it’ll take some creative towing to remove it. That said, whether stationary or on the go, Manning says there’s room inside for 75, plus there’s a pool on the back. The interior is mostly bare at the moment—in the video, Manning hints it could be built out to fit a customer—and it’s so long the other end is barely visible from inside.
There’s no getting around it: The American Dream is excessive to the point of impracticality. But it’s still the world record holder, taking the crown from itself with a 1.5-inch stretch. It’s hilarious that a distance that small has any significance for a vehicle this large, but there it is. What happens to it next is anybody’s guess, but we salute you, Floridians, for reviving The American Dream in all its excess.
