Land Yacht (automobile)

A land yacht is an informal category of large automobiles. While full-size cars are manufactured worldwide to this day, the term is most often used to describe the full-size cars of American origin between 1960 and 1976.

Alongside full-size and luxury four-door sedans, the land yacht term applied to multiple body styles, including two-door notchback sedans, personal luxury coupé, convertibles, and station wagons.

Land yachts are among the largest mass-produced cars manufactured, with their size being comparable to full-size SUVs.

American cars

The term "land yacht" began to appear in the late 1950s, as full-size luxury cars began to grow in size independently from mainstream nameplates. Initially descriptive of the high level of comfort features and soft ride, land yachts were designed "for the open road where living room-comfortable seats made the front seat seem like a plush couch with a windshield and steering wheel in front of it." During the 1960s and 1970s, land yachts of various types were produced by nearly all American automobile manufacturers; the largest were made by Cadillac, Lincoln, Imperial, and Buick. A " Brougham" trim level denoted many examples of the 1970s. Following the 1973 and 1979 oil crises, the "land yacht" term had negative connotations, primarily referencing the cars' poor handling (as a consequence of the soft ride), unwieldy size, and vague steering.

The 1973 oil crisis brought the first wave of American-produced cars to face pressure toward downsizing, coinciding with a shift by consumers away from glamour alone towards quality, feature content, and fuel economy. For example, American Motors' last full-size car was a redesigned 1974 Ambassador built on a wheelbase and available only in Brougham trim that was discontinued after one model year as consumers shifted toward more economical cars.

Following the 1979 oil crisis, U.S. car manufacturers again "struggled to redirect the inertia of bigger cars and engines." The New Yorker, the flagship of the Chrysler brand with a wheelbase and a V8 engine, was discontinued after 1978 before being succeeded by a smaller model. In 1991 and 1992, respectively, General Motors and Ford introduced redesigned full-size cars for the last time. After the 1996 model year, General Motors phased out production of the Buick Roadmaster, Chevrolet Caprice, and Cadillac Fleetwood. The Ford Panther platform, which underpinned the Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, and Lincoln Town Car went out of production in 2012, marking the final demise of a class of vehicle seen as the 'traditional' American full-size sedan.

Excluding limousines, the longest American-produced production sedan is the 1974-76 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 nine-passenger sedan, measuring . At , the heaviest American-produced car (excluding trucks and SUVs) is the 1960 Lincoln Continental convertible.

As of 2022, these remain the longest and heaviest production cars made by American-market manufacturers.

File:1960 Lincoln Continental -- 10-02-2009.jpg, 1960 Lincoln Continental
File:Cadillac Fleetwood, 1975.png, 1975 Cadillac Sixty Special Brougham
File:1974 AMC Ambassador Brougham 4-door sedan beige.JPG, 1974 AMC Ambassador
File:1974 Imperial LeBaron.jpg, 1974 Chrysler New Yorker
File:1987 Ford LTD Crown Victoria LX 4-Door in Black, Front Left, 06-10-2023.jpg, 1987 Ford LTD Crown Victoria LX

European cars

Outside North America, the term "land yacht" sees little use on locally produced cars, primarily due to different consumer demands, though large executive cars with similar niches in the European markets to land yachts in America were marketed and manufactured. Past and present, several flagship models from Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz, and Bentley have placed ride comfort as a primary design objective, with dimensions comparable to the largest American saloons produced.

In contrast to its LWB counterpart, the Mercedes-Benz 600 SWB was developed to be driven by its owner; it was produced nearly exclusively as a four-door saloon. The 1963–1981 600 SWB has a length of up to and a vehicle weight of .

The Rolls-Royce Phantom VII (and the currently produced Phantom VIII successor) are positioned as flagship saloons, breaking from the previous Phantom model line of limousines bodied by coachbuilders. The standard-wheelbase Phantom VII is long, with a kerb weight of . Following the 2002–2012 Maybach 57 and 62, Mercedes-Benz revived the nameplate as its Mercedes-Maybach sub-brand in 2015. The Mercedes-Maybach S650 is longer than its Mercedes-Benz S-Class counterpart, with the S650 having a length of , weighing .
Similarly, Bentley has traditionally produced rivals to Rolls-Royces biggest vehicles, most recently with its Mulsanne, which was long in its shortest form, and as much as in Grand Limousine specification.
Aston Martin has also produced large-sized models including the 1974-1990 Lagonda and the Lagonda Taraf.

File:1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 - fvr.jpg, 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600
File:Rolls Royce Phantom 2015 (22719825307).jpg, 2015 Rolls-Royce Phantom
File:Bentley Mulsanne W.O. Edition Genf 2019 1Y7A5019.jpg, 2019 Bentley Mulsanne William Owen Edition
File:1989 AM Lagonda burgundy.jpg, Aston Martin Lagonda

Recreational vehicles and trailers

The "land yacht" description was used in the 1941 film '' Sullivan's Travels'' to describe a bus converted with bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchen, or an early recreational vehicle (RV).

Airstream, an American manufacturer of RV trailers (caravans), used Land Yacht as the model name of its flagship model line of trailers.

See also

*Full-size car
* List of longest consumer road vehicles

References

{{reflist

1950s neologisms
Automotive terminology
Recreational vehicles
1973 oil crisis