THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 9, 1994 TAG: 9407080092
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Maddry
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines
WE'RE TALKING about limos that nuzzle the curb wearing whitewalls like starched spats. We're discussing that other kind of rental transportation. The one that smacks of old money, easy manners and quiet elegance.
In short, it's Land Yachts of Virginia Beach, an antique limousine service that wants to take you out on the town in a 1949 Packard Limousine, a 1958 Cadillac-Derham or a 1962 Austin Princess.
``We're definitely the only licensed antique limousine service in Virginia and probably the only real one south of New York,'' says Land Yachts president Mark O'Neil, an Old Dominion University grad who started the business last May.
Flip through the local yellow pages and you'll find dozens of limo businesses, but the list is misleading, said O'Neil, an antique-car collector who wanted to stay close to his hobby.
``The numbers might lead you to think there's a great market here for limousine services, but it isn't so,'' he said. ``Most of them are mom-and-pop operations. In New York City, which is tops for numbers of limousine services, the business is about 30 percent corporate . . . but there's almost zero corporate business here.''
Most customers of limousine services want them for weddings, anniversaries or a night on the town. It's a market where the edge goes to the limo service that, while dependable, stands apart from the others.
Each Land Yachts customer finds a basket of yellow roses on the back seat. And there's always a bottle of something bubbly waiting for newlyweds when the bride and groom rush from the church to the elegant Austin Princess limousine - the vehicle of choice for weddings.
``It's really an Austin Princess Vandenplas,'' O'Neil said. ``Vandanplas was the coach maker. It has a burled walnut dash and has doors that open toward the rear of the car so that they tend to fly off if opened in wind storms.''
Although a 1962 model Austin Princess' classic design is from a much earlier decade - stately and subdued - the limo has a two-tone (gray and black) body that glistens like silk in the moonlight. And for intense sunlight - or privacy - the passengers' rear window can be shielded by blinds when the chauffeur pulls a lever within arm's reach.
The 1949 Packard offers the smoothest ride of the three, but don't expect to go to the airport with luggage in the trunk. That space has been reserved for the air-conditioning unit, which wasn't a standard item in the '40s. The Packard's hood ornament is a distinctive silver cormorant, which nine out of 10 customers mistake for a swan. One of the vehicle's unusual features is a whistling gasoline tank, which alerted the owner filling the vehicle with fuel when gas had almost reached the top - a handy innovation in the days before pumps had automatic cut-offs.
The Cadillac Derham, O'Neil said, was formerly owned by a Campbell's Soup heir and was modified to eliminate the tail fins and some of the chrome that was popular during the '50s. ``It now has a more classic look,'' O'Neil said. It's the best bet for airport runs because of its huge trunk.
Land Yachts also has a car-restoration business, so the ownership knows how to repair the vehicles rented by customers. ``We have mechanics available around the clock and backup limos,'' O'Neil said.
All of the service's vehicles have windows separating the driver from the passenger seats, cassette stereos, cellular phones and tinted glass in the rear. With jump seats, up to five passengers can be accommodated - make it seven if two ride in front with the driver.
The chauffeured Land Yacht rentals have a two-hour minimum. The Packard and Caddy are $65 an hour and the Princess is $95. That's the weekend rate. On weekdays, the rates drop $10 an hour per vehicle. A 15 percent gratuity is tacked on to all rentals.
A trio of drivers - all claim the work is more fun than any they've known - meet their customers wearing either tuxedos or uniforms. Special requests from customers are usually filled if reasonable.
``We had a customer who asked us to put a white bow on the grill for her wedding because she told us that's the custom in Britain,'' said Dorothy Brady, Land Yacht's vice president. ``We have to sometimes remove the seats after weddings because there is so much rice or bird seed thrown into the cars by well-wishers.''
Driver Robert Hunter said he likes the work because he meets so many interesting people. ``I took comedian Alan King to the Pavilion, and he wouldn't get into the vehicle until he'd circled the Princess to admire it,'' Hunter said. ``Then he let me wait backstage and watch his concert before I took him to a local restaurant.''
Sometimes there's more than chauffeuring involved, said driver Romny Olson, who said she carried a bride's train and flowers across the dunes and onto the beach last Sunday after a wedding. ``The couple wanted photos taken there before going to their hotel for the reception,'' she explained.
And Billy Ray Andrews, who always sports white silk gloves when on the job, said his favorite customers were a couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. ``Their friends and relatives treated them to the limo ride. We put a sign on the back of the Packard that said, ``Just married . . . 50 years ago,'' Andrews said.
He said the couple told him they had owned a Packard soon after they were married and were excited to be riding in one again. ILLUSTRATION: [Color photo]
JIM WALKER/Staff
The land yachts, from left, are a '49 Packard, '58 Cadillac-Derham
and '62 Austin Princess.
by CNB