Hard to believe this car deteriorated this much.
https://gmauthority.com/blog/2020/05/the-worlds-longest-car-a-1976-cadillac-limo-is-currently-being-restored/
Tim
Probably deteriorated because it was of no real-world use, and couldn't reasonable be driven anywhere.
I remember going to the N.H.R.A. Museum in Pomona, California in 2002, and outside, in the weather, corroding away was the Land Speed Record Holder, Golden Rod. At least it was sitting on a trailer.
Bruce. >:D
One wonders, why even restore it? What value is it?
Tim
Quote from: cadillactim on May 16, 2020, 09:21:01 PM
One wonders, why even restore it? What value is it?
Tim
I have to agree with Tim on that comment. It's a
monstrosity. It's ugly enough to being a tear to the
eye of a real Cadillac lover. Let it "rest in peace".
Mike
Quote from: Mike Josephic CLC #3877 on May 16, 2020, 09:38:13 PM
Let it "rest in peace".
Mike
I think "put it out of it's misery" would be more appropriate.
;)
I wonder how it turned? Agree, not worth restoring.
What else one going to do with a gaggle of '76s?
Reminds me of my single digit years, "we" decided to take all our bikes apart and hook together end to end to make a long multi-rider one.
After we got them all apart, we realized it wouldn't work.
Look BEFORE you leap...
Lol, I can imagine how long it took the car strippers to strip that thing...
I count 24 tires. So just stealing the hubcaps would have taken a week...
Looks like they got tired of stealing the tires and just left some of them...
Was there ever a detailed write up on the details of how that car was built? Just one engine and pair of drive wheels? And like others ask about how it turned and went over bumps and hills. OR was maybe those things one of the many flaws in the design?
Quote from: Scot Minesinger on May 17, 2020, 08:55:26 AM
I wonder how it turned? Agree, not worth restoring.
I vaguely remember that to move it any distance it had to be disassembled. It came apart in sections and each section was trailered to the location.
The article said that it was hinged in the middle so that it could be turned, but even with that, you're still turning two 50 foot long pieces of a very heavy vehicle.
I have to agree that it's not something worth restoring, however it would be interesting to look at and see how it was engineered. I would like to know how many engines were in it, and how he got the front wheels synchronized in a turn.
Another curiosity would be the hood. How did it operate, in sections, or all one piece, or what? The doors are simple enough, and so too the remaining axles under the rear of each section.
The hinged part was probably copied from a bus. I remember the hinged buses in Germany that ran on narrow streets when I was there in the late 70's. They had an accordion type of seal between the two sections and hinged on what was basically a fifth wheel plate.
A curiosity for sure, but not something worth the time, money, and effort of restoration.
Rick
I thought I read it had two engines, and got 1 mpg. I wonder what it cost to build. Someone with too much money to waste. And the cost to restore - yikes! Those Eldorado hubcaps are like gold now.
Tim
Quote from: cadillactim on May 18, 2020, 09:47:55 AM
I thought I read it had two engines, and got 1 mpg.
Tim
That I can believe!! That's probably being overly optimistic too!
So at 1mpg did you have to fill the hot tub with gas to do a road trip? Have your helicopter do an 'in flight' refueling? I suppose there was room for fuel tanks inside. Anyone ever see the movie 'the big bus'? It was from 1976 and this car is just a 1 story version of that minus a bunch of features.
Such "monsters" are needed to allow us to better appreciate our cars and their designers.
Check out this other Ohrberg "Monster" (under "Ohrberg", in the Cadillac Database). My son photgraphed the abandoned "Gui-Car" on France's Côte d'Azur", in the 90s:
http://www.newcadillacdatabase.org/static/CDB/Dbas_txt/Drm67-69.htm
I think this is the one Yann is referring to.
Its a long way to scroll down to the pic, so I copied it here.
That's the one, Glenn. Thanks for putting up the photo.
It is believed the "car" has gone back to the USA.
Let's wait and see !
Meanwhile. I found more info (and a photo) on the Web:
https://www.google.com/search?q=jay+ohrberg+guitar+cADILLACS&rlz=1C1CHBF_enCH862CH862&sxsrf=ALeKk01xNRc3ysHQziFDhzbSP-XpJlPWqQ:1591779307743&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=tfm7R0emXZIViM%253A%252C6gBpfXmwY7aYeM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kQxAG6q9p9jC6O0S_1bXejtX6mu3A&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjcksuB8PbpAhWEaDABHck-CcMQ9QEwA3oECAoQCQ&biw=1280&bih=646#imgrc=tfm7R0emXZIViM: