You don’t have to be rich to be chauffeured around in what claims to be the world’s biggest and most luxurious limousine, but it would probably not hurt if you left your inhibitions at the door.
Limousines tend to be understated yet elegant and sophisticated, and this applies, to a certain extent, to stretch-limos, even those you can rent out by the hour. So let’s just get this out of the way: there is nothing understated or sophisticated about the Colossus Limo. It’s big, it’s bright, sparkly yellow, it’s got flashing lights and multiple screens, and it screams for attention.
The Colossus Limo was introduced to the world way back in 2010 as The King, with claims of being the world’s longest and biggest limo. It was never that, at least not officially so, but even today, you will find it on any list of the world’s most impressive, biggest and most famous vehicles of this type.
There’s an old saying that, in America, bigger is good. In the case of Colossus, the biggest is good-er: made from what looks like a Navistar International truck, its size alone is enough to make you give it a second – and third, and fourth – look. It is also painted in sparkly yellow and comes with blue underlights, so yes, the Colossus was never about subtlety.
From the very start, it was part of the fleet of a rental company in Glendale, California, The Biggest Limo, which was founded in 2008 by Karen Petrosyan and Gary Piskoulian. It offers plenty of other big cars like Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, and BMWs, just like its name implies, but not one of them can hold a candle to the Colossus.
“I wanted to make something extraordinary that no one else would have. I decided to convert a truck into a limo,” Petrosyan said in an older interview.
The conversion itself took a little over a year and an estimated $500,000, but Petrosyan likes to say it cost him the equivalent of a private jet, which would put its price way higher. The Colossus is 40 feet (12 meters) long and 8.5 feet (2.5 meters) wide. The interior is 6 feet (1.8 meters) high, so you can party without hitting your head on the ceiling.
And party you shall once you board this monstrosity of a limousine! It was build for this specific purpose and features no less than three bars, two hidden under the backs of the couch-like seats and one in the VIP room in the back. Yes, it has a VIP room. Here, you can either get drunk, or watch TV / play Playstation and Wii (this is 2010 we’re talking about, when Wii was still the bomb).
The Colossus also has a fully-functional DJ booth, a disco LCD floor, club-style lighting with laser shows and a fog machine, high-quality 8,000-watt surround system, a full karaoke system, and two “entertainment” poles (to put it elegantly) that can convert into tables. Because the car is painted bright yellow, the interior matches: once you turn off the disco lights and the ceiling and underseat lights, you’ll see plush leather sofas in yellow and black.
Also here, you will find no less than 11 TVs, including a 52-inch one facing backwards, so you can display ads for your business to the drivers behind the Colossus, while you party the night away in complete privacy. There’s a “surveillance room” with four interior and exterior cameras, and what the owner claims is the fastest-responding satellite system able to pick up reception from all over the world.
“Colossus is a once in a lifetime limousine experience,” reads a note on the official website of the limousine. “No other limo can match its size and extravagance. Taking over a year to build, we held back on no expense in making Colossus the world’s biggest and most luxurious limousine. No other limousine can match these amenities.”
The Colossus can carry 27 passengers with room left to party, but it’s often referred to as a 30-passenger vehicle. It costs $300 an hour to rent and, according to those brave and wild enough to ride in it, it’s worth every cent.
While it’s true that it packs a punch in terms of outrageousness, it’s far from original. In fact, it could be that Colossus was modeled after the Big Blue, which at some point, did hold the record for the world’s biggest car. It had wooden floors and many of the amenities now featured on the Colossus, only lower-specced.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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