Landyacht
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Landyacht is colloquial term in the United States, Australia and parts of Canada, used to describe the large sedans that American automobile manufacturers produced, particularly full-size, rear-wheel drive sedans, from the 1950s through the 1990s. Features commonly found in vehicles that are referred to as landyachts include not only very generous exterior proportions, but also somewhat vague steering and a "spongy" ride with a feeling that is often described as being "floaty." Today, the terms is applied to large, traditional American sedans, regardless of the actual characteristics featured in the vehicle.
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[edit] Origins
The term essentially describes large cars as yachts that ride on land, evoking the relative size, maneuverability, and luxury of the water vessel.
The term is most commonly applied to the large American cars of the pre oil crisis era. American automobile manufacturers placed much of their emphaisis in the engineering of their vehicles on size and amenities during this time, as consumers were not conerned with fuel efficiency due to low gas prices, a lack of environmental awareness, and rising prosperity among the middle class. Cars of this era remain known for size, excessive fuel consumption, "spongy" rides (attributed to long wheelbases), and comfort.
Design, as much as size, distinguished the landyacht sedans. While European and later Japanese car manufacturers often produced cars just as large and expensive, American marques distinguished themselves with eye-catching and innovative - though sometimes kitschy and absurd - design and marketing. Cars from Cadillac, Lincoln, Buick, and other American brands featured elaborate, often overdone, styling, in contrast to the more understated elegance of German and British cars. In addition to simply being a large car, landyachts often included the following:
- vinyl roofs (sometimes called carriage tops or Brougham tops)
- opera windows
- Heavy chrome brightwork, especially on the fenders and grille
- Heavily cushioned, very roomy interior, usually upholstered in leather, vinyl, velour, or cloth
- whitewall tires (especially in the 1950s and 1960s)
[edit] Modern use
After the oil crises of the 1970s and 1980s, American automakers never fully recovered from the decline in popularity of full-size sedans and coupes. Japanese automakers had successfully penetrated the market by catering to an American auto market that had become more interested in fuel economy and reliability than aesthetics and glamor. By the 1990s, American car-makers had learned to compete, producing smaller, more efficient - albeit visually uninspiring - mid-size cars like the Ford Taurus. Arguably, Cadillac's discontinuation of the Fleetwood sedan in 1996 marked the demise of the last "true" landyacht.
Despite the comeback of full-size rear wheel drive sedans in the US, such as the Chrysler 300, modern cars are usually only referred to as Landyachts in a derogatory sense and share few distinguishing characteristics with the sedans from the 1950s, 60s and 70s for which the term was originally coined.
The term is, however, applied to modern cars as well. Most commonly it is applied to vehicles using the General Motors B platform, which was cancelled in 1996, vehicles using the Ford Panther platform, as well as the Cadillac Deville and its successor the Cadillac DTS (despite its front wheel drive layout). Interestingly enough, the term is not applied to non-domestic vehicles, though many German sedans rival their American counterparts in terms of size and the Japanese LS 430 was described by Forbes magazine has having roughly the same handling as the much larger Lincoln Town Car or Cadillac DTS.
[edit] See also
- Definition and list of full-size cars
- List of largest passenger vehicles in the United States
- Passenger vehicles in the United States
- List of car manufacturers
