Javillac
Limousines have always been a type of bodywork that has attracted attention due to its length. Its origins date back to the times of horse carriages, as The carriages in which the coachman went outdoors with covered passengers were already called that, and received their name from the French region of Limousin.
With the arrival of the automobile, this nomenclature was used in elongated vehicles, which They were born from the need to transport more passengers than a traditional car. It could transport, but without having the width of a bus, something that would complicate its maneuverability on certain streets.
The association of limousines with a luxury vehicle would come in the interwar period, when some heads of state, presidents and important executives opted for these spacious means of transportation for your trips.
But almost at the same time, many of the companies in charge of bodywork cars to give them the function of ambulance and hearse They also decided to manufacture elongated versions of passenger cars with enough space to be able to transport a family in the procession.
AIRBUSES, AIRPORT LIMOUSINES
With the immense advances in the world of aeronautics experienced After the end of World War II, commercial aviation experienced a period of great growth., and airports now occupied a large space in cities to manage the large number of travelers passing through them.
Within the particular automobile fauna that lives in these peculiar spaces Limousines emerged to transport passengers, known as aerobuses.. Initially these vehicles, usually with eight doors, were used to transport people from the terminal to the plane.
Soon its function evolved to make trips outside the airport. It is true that buses already existed, and in fact they were the ones that made most of the trips, but certain clients demanded something more exclusive.
Most airbuses had eight doors on the sides, and They normally had space for nine passengers, although according to the manufacturer there were versions with greater capacity. They were mainly based on the ranch or sedan versions of some popular passenger cars.
When these limousines had reached their useful life They were bought in some cases by musicians who used them as minibuses to transport their material and move around during tours, as was the case of Bo Diddley, who used a stretched 1957 Chevrolet for years.
The American company Checker, famous for manufacturing its iconic taxis until 1982, offered its Aerobus model, with capacity for 9 or 12 occupants depending on the version. Although it may seem like a very niche market, Checker sold 3.568 units of this gigantic vehicle, demonstrating that, within this very limited sector, they had great popularity.
Another of the most striking examples is the Jetway 707, a huge limousine with space for fifteen people and that took the base of whatever it was the first American front-wheel drive car after World War II, the Oldsmobile Toronado, something that made it much easier to extend the model.
In the seventies the golden era of these airport giants had passed, a decline that was surely forced by the oil crises and the lethargic performance of a vehicle of these dimensions with the mechanics of a standard car.
Thus, These curious bodies ended up disappearingr, something that also happened in Spain with some elongated cars that mostly operated as taxis or grand tourism, leaving behind some of the most curious vehicles in the history of passenger transportation.
