The Learmousine, a 42-foot jet turned into a street-legal limo, is for sale

There has never been a better time to start a collection of eccentric vehicles modified for road use. Start by buying the BoatCar, a 24-foot Sea Ray boat hull dropped onto a Ford E-350 frame, and wait for your chance to bid on the Learmousine, a Learjet with wheels instead of wings. Check the calendar: April Fool’s isn’t until tomorrow.

At 42 feet long and 8 feet wide, the street-legal Learmousine started life as a regional aircraft manufactured by Learjet. Dan Harris laid the project’s foundations in 2005, and his team spent about two years designing a custom frame sturdy enough to support the plane’s aluminum fuselage. The electrical system and the full suspension were developed from the ground up, too. Finding off-the-shelf components to turn a plane into a car was evidently easier said than done. Sourcing a body shop with a big enough paint booth was, too, but the limousine industry came together to make it happen. The Learmousine finally made its public debut in Dallas in 2018.

The driver sits in front of an aftermarket four-spoke steering wheel, an instrument cluster from a first-generation Chevrolet Silverado, and four screens that display views from various cameras. Four vertical rows of red toggle switches mounted right above the lone front seat control the lights and the music, among accessories. The rest of the interior is pegged at the unlikely intersection of private jets, limousines, and night clubs. There’s everything you’d expect to find in an 18-seater party bus including a 42-inch flat-screen television, a minibar, a 17,000-watt sound system with speakers inside and outside, an infinity floor, plus a lot of neon lights.

Power comes from a mid-mounted, 8.1-liter V8 engine sourced from the Chevrolet parts bin. It spins the rear wheels, but there’s no word on what the Learmousine is like to drive. All we know is that it doesn’t have to sound like a pickup truck, because the giant speakers embedded in the nacelles can play the sound of a jet engine.

The head-turning Learmousine will cross the block during Mecum’s Indy 2020 auction, which is scheduled to take place May 12-17 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The winning bidder will also receive a 44-foot Iron Bull trailer that’s long enough to carry the jet, and a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD that’s powerful enough to pull it all. Mecum hasn’t published a pre-sale estimate, but don’t expect to bag the lot for cheap.