Re: Using classics as a business

Posted by FPTGearhead On 2012/2/2 11:49:01

Regarding the limo business, my son recently got married in Savannah, GA. His limo was a '37 120 four door. I talked at length with the owner operator (I was paying for it) and he shared stories. His car was retro fitted to 12 volt, original engine, added after market AC, oversized aftermarket radiator for the hot southern summers, and nice sound system. The rest of the car is basically original. He works two to three weekend weddings a month. Said he could work many more if he wanted.
He did say there is a lot of hurry up and wait issues. He did have to sit for a few hours at my son's wedding as the party took a little longer to wrap up. Also there are many little things that pop up in the car dealing with reliability and being able to make his commitments. Fortunately he is a good car wrench and he shared with me the cooling issues he had. Wow...
I too have done weddings with my '38 Eight but only for very close friends and I always did the driving. Additionally I drove 60 miles to Buffalo in 1983? to audition for the movie "The Natural" that took place in 1939. Well long story short, I made the first cut and they were going to pay me $100 a day to park the car in a street scene (filmed in Buffalo) and an extra $100 a day if I had to drive it on set. Well it rained all summer and there were many cancellations and they never called me back. The cars adjacent to me at the audition, '39 Pontiac and '38 Ford were in the movie. One was repainted as a taxi and the other was a drive by. Cool. Many members of our AACA club were also in the movie including the opening train scene.
Knowing what I know and questions I have asked I too would stay away from the big business side of the limo thing. Just do it under the table and enjoy. The insurance issues could kill your profit margin no less the other licenses.

DJ