10 Ultra-Luxe Vintage Limos for the Ultimate Entrance

Because stretched Lincoln Navigators are gauche.

By Ben Keeshin
Luxury Vintage Limousines
Scott McGuigan ©2016 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's
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Though it’s a frightfully elegant affair, the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance tagline might be “show and sell.” Because while the formal invitations and prestige belong to those special cars parading across the Amelia Island golf course, the metal being sold a couple of tents over by Sotheby’s and RM is every bit as good. And, by good, we mean “superlatively beautiful,” “rarer than a Trump apology” and “more expensive than Zeus’ robe.” This March, when droves of the monied and seer-sucked drive across that causeway into the dank, tropical environment of the island, they will have the option to buy metal so fine, it might even qualify for the concours.

Take these lux limos. These aren’t your prom ride, nor gargantuan trucklets in which Real Housewives self-medicate en route to the launch of a new handbag line. Instead, think: How would the Queen arrive to her own birthday? What did John Rockefeller ride upstate? What will be waiting for Bernie Madoff upon his inevitable early release from Club Fed?

This Stutz has a fabric body—all the rage for the carriages carrying patrons around Europe’s racing circuits. The fabric was lightweight, allowing for greater speeds, and the matte finish was rich and low-key.Darin Schnabel ©2013 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's
We love the ATS-V, but there will always be a part of the Cadillac spirit that would rather lose its crest than slide through an apex. This V-12 Phaeton—with its whitewalls, quad lamps and elegant coachwork—is the sentinel of that sentiment.Darin Schnabel ©2013 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's
Pity those with only 12 cylinders to waft them about; this Marmon has a glorious 16. That meant 200 horsepower in 1931, almost unheard of off the racetracks.Teddy Pieper ©2016 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's
This is the sportiest of the Depression Era phaetons. And check out the V-shaped grill.Darin Schnabel ©2016 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's
Only nineteen Ruxtons survive today. This example has the famous “rainbow” paintwork—that gorgeous blue-gray gradient up the sides—as well as those classic, cat-eye-shaped headlights. It’s just about perfect.Darin Schnabel ©2016 Courtesy of RM Sothebys
Rolls-Royce is famous for its two-tone paint schemes, and silver-over-burgundy might just be the best. This saloon, more elegant than a ballet slipper, was of an era when Rolls gave power specifications only as “adequate.”Gary Kessler ©2015 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's
There’s wood trim, and then there’s “wood dashboard.” The entire front plate of this custom-built Rolls-Royce limousine is carved from luminous walnut. Plus, somehow this fifty year-old cruiser only managed 18,000 miles.Scott McGuigan ©2016 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's
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