Once upon a time in a land far far away...

Hahaha, no no.. I won't quite go that deep but I do want to welcome you to my little corner of the Internet dedicated to an obsessive infatuation with big, long, luxxxxurious vehicles.  BigRedLimo.com is intended to be a place for people with an interest in the limousine scene to mingle and discuss any and all related topics.  This includes those that ride in limo's, watch those that ride in them, those that own them, make them, sell them, drive them... everything! My name is Tim and I am your host (or should I say Chauffeur) for the duration of your visit.

History 

A brief history of this site is necessary to understand my fascination and the overall purpose of its existence.  Having grown up in rural Northwest Pennsylvania, I didn't see my first limousine until I was 10 years old.. We had driven up to Jamestown, NY to do some shopping at the local Hills department store.. As we were coming out of the store I saw three gorgeous, white cars longer than anything I had ever seen before.  They had a police escort which I had also never seen before.. It was Lucille Ball coming to visit her home town of Jamestown.  While everyone else was going crazy trying to see Lucy, all I cared about were those big, beautiful cars.. I knew instantly that I would have one (or many!) of my own some day...

Fast forward 14 years... Now a successful consultant teaching the world about the glories of the Internet and how it can make us all fabulously wealthy.. The year is 1998, I was 24 and for some time had decided I would "retire" by the time I was 30 so I could follow my dream and own a limo service.  The first step was getting a limo though... Nobody in my family was thrilled with the prospect of me ever "retiring" and they definitely didn't share my taste in HUGE cars (read my 81 Bonneville Diesel, 78 Olds Delta 88, 78 Dodge Monaco, 66 Dodge Polara - you get the picture..). 

Everyday on my commute home I would pass this motorcycle shop on I-35 just north of Dallas that had a great old Cadillac limo sitting out front.. Travesty it was, they had painted it flourescent orange and parked Ducati's and Moto Guzzi's on it's roof as an attention getter for passing traffic.. For more than a year I watched that poor car suffer out there.. I mean, who would want an 800lb Italian on top of them all the time anyway?

One day I was stuck in traffic right in front of the store and decided to pull in and take a closer look at the old girl.. She was definitely dirty and her fins had started to crack but I could see all the potential in the world.  Just as I was ending the daydream and hopping back in my car, the owner of the store came out and said howdy.. Nice guy.. I told him I was admiring the car and he laughed.. apparently someone would stop at least once a week and do the same.. Out of small talk he asked me what I did for a living.. I told him I was an Internet Consultant and helped companies establish themselves online. The big ORANGE limo - Sep 1998 The look on his face was as if he had just gotten a brand new puppy.. he immediately asked a thousand questions about the Web and getting started online.. seeing an opportunity for some side work I told him I'd be happy to help him out.. That's when everything changed...

He offered - on the spot - to give me the ole limo in exchange for a shiny new website and some help getting established online.. I answered with an emphatic "Hell yeah!!" before he was even done with the offer.  So, three days later I was back, laptop in hand with a prototype site to show him.. The big ORANGE limo front view - Sep 1998He sat back in his chair.. smiled.. and leaned forward.. throwing me the keys to the car.. From that day on I was on my way! :-)

I couldn't quite stomach the orange.. I mean, I liked it in a sick kinda way, but there was no way the neighbors would ever let it anywhere near the house.. so I though what better, more luxurious, understated color to paint my new baby than... Porsche RED.. Yeah!! that was the ticket!  Off to Maaco we went..

The Site

So here I am a week later driving my brilliant red, 500 cubic inch, luxo-sled all over kingdom come.. nevermind I had a brand new truck and Ford SHO in the garage.. they were parked.. It was all Caddy all the time, Baby.. but for some reason family wouldn't let me drive it ALL the time.. so I decided to create a web site devoted to my new toy.. Hence BigRedLimo.com was born on Sept 5, 1998.The Big Red Limo!!

Fast forward a few years.. I had left the Internet/IT scene shortly after 9/11 because, well, there was no work.. anywhere... period... After 6,000 or so resumes had been sent out without one response, I decided to go a different direction.. At this point I had no money left, was divorced, and beyond Big Red, had few posessions to tie me down.. I decided to jump feet first into my dream and get into the limo biz.. That was Jan 2, 2002.  I was lucky to find a great group of guys that had a few newer limos but weren't really doing anything with them besides funerals.. I partnered with them and lived with those cars for the next six months almost non stop.  In that time we established a presence online and I got in touch with some of my old industry friends and got some advertising going.. it wasn't long before we were on our way!!

For the next 4 years I followed my dream and was involved in every aspect of the limo business.. from cleaning the cars, driving, fixing, (crashing.. *cough cough*), etc etc.  At our peak we had 63 cars!! It was a fantastic journey and I will cherish it for the rest of my life.  I learned some extremely valuable lessons during that time.. such as not to grow a company too fast and that everyone you deal with isn't always looking out for your best interest.. Even so, I don't regret one single second..

Nowadays I'm back in the IT industry but still yearn for the golden days.. I still have Big Red and her sister Big Blue.. They are my babies and are stuck to me like a sixth digit.. ;-)  This site allows me to stay in touch with the whole industry and, on occasion, consult for different companies that are looking for an edge in the market.   It's also a helluva lot of fun!

Conclusion

So there ya have.. I'll be posting many, many stories of past limo adventures along with some new ones.  ( I do still drive from time to time ).  Any questions, ideas, comments, rants, or requests are welcome.. Thanks again for stopping by!!

--Tim