land yacht

Slang term used to describe the enormous American cars of the 1960's and 1970's, implying that such vehicles are the size (and shape) of actual boats. Examples include the Lincoln Continental, my parents' 1977 Mercury Cougar Villager station wagon, Ford Galaxie 500, Buick Electra, and any old Cadillac.

Many of these station wagons seated up to nine passengers, and gas-guzzling V8's were standard equipment on any self-respecting big car of this era.

Nowadays, the land yacht category has almost entirely died out, surviving only in such cars as the Cadillac DeVille and the Lincoln Town Car. However, the spirit is alive and well in the Sport-Utility Vehicle...

The name "Land Yacht" did not only apply to station wagons, but sedans (saloon) and coupes as well.

Many of the land yachts did have style and flair, many of the 1950's Buicks and Cadillacs for example. I have never really liked most of the 1960's land yachts, with one exception, the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe convertible (fire engine red). To this day it holds the record for the largest tail fins of any production vehicle.

Although the day of the land yacht is past they are all that remains of a lost art, car design. The 1940's, 50's and 60's were the height of automobile design. These cars are rolling sculpture. Oh sure, they are inefficient, gas-guzzling monsters with poor performance and squishy suspensions; but damn they look good!