Bigger Is Better: Jay Ohrberg's Insane Custom Limousines

It's true, Ohrberg was born in a different era than the current one of self-empowerment, self-confidence, self-awareness, and constant re-evaluation of what matters in life. His greatest pieces – and the bulk of his work – are dated in the late '70s through to the glorious, impossibly kitschy early '90s, so they're practically oozing with excess, a focus on aesthetics to the detriment of function, and shameless extravaganza.

The name Joy Ohrberg might not ring familiar to a more casual auto enthusiast, but even those too will know his works, having seen them on some of the most popular TV shows, big-screen franchises, or television films.

Ohrberg's creations are like the blood that runs through the veins of Hollywood, iconic in their own rights: KITT from Knight Rider, General Lee from The Dukes of Hazard, the Back to the Future DeLorean, several Batman projects including the Batmobile from Batman Returns, the Flintstones car, the Ford Gran Torino from Starsky and Hutch, the RoboCop car, Mad Max cars, or the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters.

For a guy who started out as a truck driver, hauling around Craig Breedlove’s land-speed record car, The Spirit of America, in the mid-'60s, Ohrberg sure came a long way. And his work isn't limited to Hollywood either: he's also done private commissions for celebrities with whom he shared the same passion for wheels and eccentricities and, for a decade or so, oversize custom creations. Limousines, in particular.

Indeed, Joy Ohrberg is the same guy who designed and built – and then successfully toured over 30 countries with – the American Dream, still the world's longest limousine as certified by the Guinness World Book of Records decades ago.

It's his most famous and most expensive limousine, but it wasn't his only build. In fact, as stated already, Ohrberg seemed quite taken with oversize vehicles in the '80s. So here are some of them you might not have heard of, in no particular order or ranking.

The American Dream

You can't discuss Ohrberg's limousines and not mention the one that started it all. American Dream was completed in 1986 and became such a success that it allowed Ohrberg to pursue his dreams in this particular direction: bigger cars with more room for insane features.

American Dream was 100 feet (30.5 meters) long and rode on 26 wheels. It was based on a 1976 Cadillac Eldorado but was hinged in the middle, had two engines, and required two drivers to operate, one at the front and one in the rear. It was notoriously slow and difficult to maneuver (duh!), for which reason it would mostly travel in separate pieces, up on trailers.

The American Dream limo could seat as many as 75 people and had every feature you'd find in any other limousine, including fancy seating, fancy lights, and fancy bars. But it also had hardwood furniture and chandeliers, a water bed, a tanning bed, a spa area, several themed "rooms," a pool with a diving board, and a touch-and-go helipad that could double as a putting green.

All the features were functional at the time, including the helipad. The limo fell into disrepair at some point but has since been restored and is on display at the Dezer Museum. It is still Guinness' longest limousine.

The Hot Tub Mercedes Convertible Limo

If Barbie could be talked into ditching her Corvette and getting into a more "party on wheels"-type of ride, this one would be an excellent option. The Hot Tub Limo is the pinkest, most girlish thing you've ever seen, though, at some point, it rocked a more somber black paintjob.

This one started out as a 1976 Mercedes Benz S Class (W116) but was extended to seat up to ten people, not including the two swimsuit models that could ride in the back, chilling in the heart-shaped red jacuzzi. Ohrberg built it as a promotional vehicle, like all his limos, and it was a successful one, being featured in TV shows and music videos.

The 44-foot (13.4-meter) limo featured a white leather interior and presumably a small bar and came with a reported price tag of $1 million, at least according to the report in the video below. This is one instance where it's best to keep in mind that you shouldn't believe everything you see on TV, especially in entertainment shows of this kind.

The Double-Wide Limo

This is perhaps the weakest item on the list, though not for lack of trying on Ohrberg's part. For whatever reason, the Double-Wide Limo failed to attain the same level of success as its counterparts, though it was just as scandalous.

It was named this way because it was as wide as 2.5 regular cars and measured 30 feet (9.2 meters) in length. The interior was so spacious that it could effectively double as a volleyball field, which is perhaps why Ohrberg left it mostly empty, with seating for just seven people, including the two in the front. This earned the vehicle the moniker of "living room on wheels" – a funny but accurate description of this monstrosity.

The Double-Wide Limo was powered by two '75 Cadillac FWD engines and had eight wheels on each side, with four hidden in the middle. Though it didn't look like it, the vehicle could be split in two, and the parts could be driven separately, which was often the case when moving it from location to location.

The Ferrari F40 Limousine

Before the more recent spat of Ferrari limousines, there was Joy Ohrberg's F40 limo. Enzo Ferrari would probably be furious at the thought of people turning his precious cars into limousines, and most car enthusiasts feel the same. But for Ohrberg, it was just another occasion to show his skill.

His F40 limousine was scaled off a toy model, 35 feet (10.6 meters) long and with an all-metal body. It wasn't even a real Ferrari, despite the oversize prancing horse logo on the hood, since it used a Pontiac Fiero chassis with a V6 engine. But at least it had 10 gold wheels and seating for eight people, a massive spoiler, and that unmistakable red Ferrari color.

The 110-foot (33.5-meter) Rolls-Royce Limo that never was

The last entry in this list is a vehicle Ohrberg never got to build, not because he stopped trying but because he couldn't finance it. In 2015, the world-famous fabricator took a novel idea to crowdfunding, hoping to secure $200,000 to bring it into reality: he would build a limousine that would strip The American Dream of its crown, becoming the world's longest limousine instead.

It would be a Rolls-Royce limo with a length of 110 feet (33.5 meters) and even more bonkers features than its predecessor, including a lap pool. It would still have a helipad, though, because how else are you going to make your way to it if not by air?

Phoenix-based artist and longtime Ohrberg collaborator Richard Fletcher came in for the job and worked on an early version of the design. The plan was to purchase two newer-model Rolls-Royces with the money raised on the platform, after which Ohrberg would get to work – and eventually secure a new Guinness Record.

He never did. The campaign only got one pledge of $30 before it was shut down.