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This stretch limo listed on craigslist in Tucson seems overpriced at $12,500, but it appears to be more than just a stretch. It was built by Lehmann Peterson, who built limos for Ford in the 1960s. They were sold to many celebrities, government agencies and presidents. There is no history provided for this one except to claim it was built for the White House or the Senate. It is said to be armored.
This limo is certainly showing its age, but appears restorable. If it has an interesting history, perhaps it could be restored for a museum or private collection. It might also be used in a limousine service providing unique and classic vehicles. It might be a piece of history, but what could you do with it?
What’s with the license plate?? eBay/Craigslist spelling skills by a neo-Nazi or what??
I agree Weird!!!
… Sig Heil ??
Hard to say, but in AZ, no front plate is required, and you can run any plate you want – either a phony repro or a real plate from AZ or anywhere else. The red-based plate is from the 1980’s so it’s not likely reg. to this car.
What is an “Army tank steel center”? I’m thinking reinforced Limo frame. And no it is not bullet proof, the door glass is stock. The first rule in bullet proofing is bullet proof glass and that is approx. one inch thick in most cases.
The owner was in the fur trade ? Car was armoured against Animal activist attacks ?
Ooooh! “flagg holders”…they are easily worth 5k each. I think this is underpriced. You can’t create patina like that overnight. Study your U Tube history kids.
If it is “what it is” this a pretty cool find. 12K is just one of those prices because how many of these can you just go out and buy at any price? 32K miles, I am not buying that. A limo is typically well cared for not only by the ownership especially if it were for government use this car was cleaned to the 9’s always. How does a car with 32K miles go from polished daily to completely destroyed in just 32K miles, regardless of the years, unless some idiot bought it, trashed it and left it in a field with the windows open for a decade. Again, I just don’t get it. Pop the hood, I’ll be that doesn’t look like 32K miles. I have 64 olds with 58K, completely original and unrestored daily driver for my mom and us 4 kids from 64 to 73 and it is a number 2 car inside and out. I love Barn Finds but it gets tiring reading these ads by people who are either clueless or think that we are clueless idiots.
You took all the words right out of my mouth. I would only add it looks like someone’s already done in the front suspension, so there’s another big expense. A very marginal car at best
I might think about it if it had one less zero to the price tag looks cool but rough on the inside it’s going to take a lot to that sorted out
Do people not care about spelling anymore? When I’m looking to buy something I will steer clear of ads like these. Who knows what to believe in that ad.
EXCELLENT! I rarely answer ads when the illiterate seller didn’t clear 8th grade. Too untrustworthy as to what they mean or what their juvenile motives are. Well stated.
Yes – it may be this or that – but is still f$&4ed
The 1973 Eldorado Indianapolis 500 Pace Car had flag holders too. Maybe it was there also after the Senate finished with it. Come on people, it has flag holders. That proves it.
The Presidential cars are well documented. If I actually believed that kind of history were possible with this car, I would have done a little more homework before bothering to list it for sale. Or not list it for sale.
Either way, it is a nice, period limo with great proportions, and it will be awesome when it’s finally restored.
Looks like it got lost on its way back from Animal House /Lee
Oh what a big gas tank this car must have.
22 gallons, I believe.
A shout out to the fine people of Tucson. Love it there. As to the car, what good is it?……..worthless
A Tucson friend responded that this car may have belonged to John Furrer, a Tucson “character” who owned a large collection of WWI and WWII memorabilia that he showed at a “museum” near Picacho Peak along I-10 about 40 miles northwest of Tucson. I remember driving past it as a wee lad in the late 70s/early 80s and geeking out at the sight of all the military vehicles/jeeps at the location. By the time I went to Tucson for school in 1987, it was gone. Up until recently, there was a WWI-era vehicle on top of a tall pole at the sight, but it’s now gone as well. Here’s a blurb I found online:
Curator of the Great War
John Furrer had a dream, one he pursued for two decades: building the most complete exhibit of World War I memorabilia ever assembled.
His efforts were visible a couple of decades back to Interstate 10 travelers as a collection of tanks, trucks, jeeps and other military equipment on display near Picacho Peak., 40 miles northwest of Tucson.
The museum, which also featured a restaurant with a counter made of sandbags and ceilings festooned with machine guns, grenades and other gear, was an eye-catching tourist stop. But it was not without its problems.
Furrer carried on a nearly decade-long battle over the 20-acre state land property with the State Land Department and Attorney General’s Office, resulting from Furrer’s having fallen behind in payments on his state leases.
He did so intentionally, he said, to protest ever-increasing lease rates on the property, which had grown from about $175 a year to more than $3,300 a year, resulting from growing land valuations in the area.
On Jan. 12, 1983, the tall, husky, bearded, red-faced Furrer was officially removed from the property, but he vowed to continue the fight.
He did so until his death in Tucson in March 1987. At the time, he was awaiting the setting of a hearing date in Pinal County Superior Court.
His death was listed as a heartattack, but his wife, Martha, told reporters “He really died of a broken heart.’
This car sounds like something he would’ve owned!
That is fascinating. Wonder whatever happened to all the military vehicles?
“Almost bullet proof” cracked me up.
Sure! Like, “almost restored”!
Love this line in the ad! “Almost bullet proof”. What is that? Like being shot and “Almost still alive”. This tired, clapped out limo is “Almost worth buying”. Not.
Buy that for say $10K. Then spend 2-3 years and another $50K on a ground-up restoration. When done it’ll be worth maybe $25K. as a curio.
Well yeah, I remember the fear I felt when the girlfriend feared she was “almost pregnant . . . “
I use to fabricate the sheet metal for leman peterson. This is not a bullet proof car. And it was most likely not for anyone in Washington DC.
The flag holders were typically used for parades.
I suggest he contact the comany who made the car because Earl Moloney has bought a few of these to restore. It’s in Rolling Meadows, Illinois
I owned a 1965 Lehmann Peterson Limo, and I’ve worked on several others from ’64 to 66, both the short version and the longer version shown here. They ALL were electrical nightmare cars.
The owner is probably confusing body armoring with the fact that these cars were unit-body, and L-P had to create gussets to weld over & cover the sheet metal frames to allow the stretch. To someone just simply looking under the car, the added hand-formed & welded strengthening steel might give the impression of armoring.
I don’t believe any L-P limousines were armored until about 1985, as the technology didn’t exist to lengthen a unit body car 30″ or more, and add a ton of armored steel. A quick check of the L-P website confirms they started offering armored vehicles starting in the mid 1980s.
As for being White House cars, I can tell you that it was never a White House car, as GM was providing those vehicles by 1966. [All cars were on lease for token amounts, typically $1/year]. Ditto for Congress, looking at period photos, you will see only Cadillac limousines around the capitol. I’ve owned 2 white house cars [55 Chrysler Crown Imperial limousines] and having lived in the DC area for 60+ years, I have tracked the government cars as well as the foreign embassy limos too [& I have owned several of those too].
Years ago I interviewed one of the guys who was in charge of the White House garage facility, and he indicated that after the Kennedy assassination, The big Lincolns had to back to Ford because the Johnson Administration felt the continued use of the Lincolns was a reminder of the tragedy. That’s why we see pictures of Pres. Johnson in Cadillac limos.
Of course, you will see plent of pictures of Johnson in the very same car JFK was assassinated in which Johnson had rebodied to a ’64. It remained in the White House garage for years, finally ending up in a museum.
Johnson had Kennedy’s SS100X sent back to Hess & Eisenhart in Cincinnati, where it was rebuilt with a fixed roof, painted black, and it was used by Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter. Nixon used a 1968 Lincoln limo, and a new 1972 Lincoln was used by Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan. This car was updated during the Carter years with a 1979 front clip and taillight assembly. It was the car Reagan was about to enter when he was shot in 1981. It wasn’t until 1983 that the White House switched to GM cars, with the new 1983 high roof Cadillac Fleetwood limousine. Lincoln returned to the presidential scene with George H.W. Bush, with a 1989 Town Car, with Cadillac providing presidential transport from Clinton on. The Kennedy/Johnson limo, and the two subsequent limos used by Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan are in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.
Rob, I worked for this company, and this car is not bullet proof. The front license plate is the owners name. He ran a military museum and set the car up as a parade car. It was never used by Washington or any elected officials as far as I know.
President Johnson, famusly, (or perhaps infamusly) had the Limo that Kennedy was shot in re-built with a solid roof (in place of the convertiable roof) and was put back into service and used as the Presidents (plural) Limo all the way up to and inculding President Ford. I actually saw President Ford in that very same Lincoln Continental (as the one that Kennedy died in) at the State Fair in Columbia, South Carolina in 1976. It was rebuilt after President Carter took office in 1977, and was not retired until after President Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr. in March 30, 1981. https://youtu.be/e8RGtmEwE7M
The JFK Lincoln is now in the “Henry Ford” museum in Dearborn Michigan.
Henry even bought the chair Abe Lincoln was sitting on when he was shot. It’s on display there too.
Most people don’t know the reason it’s on display at The Henry Ford Museum is because the US Government never owned it. The limo was built by Ford and Hess & Eisenhart, then leased to the Federal Government for $500 a year for 10 years by Ford. Had the government owned it, the car would be in the Smithsonian. Originally it was a dark “Midnite” blue, but Johnson insisted it be painted black before he would use it.
The primary reason JFK didn’t like the bubble top was because there was no additional A/C system, and if it was a sunny day, those in the back would complain it was too hot.
Once the new titanium armored roof was welded in place, a rear A/C system was added. Nixon had the sunroof added so he could stand up and wave to the crowds.
Furst I did know new Lincoln Limousine’s, but this is a classic one.