These Land Yachts Are The Best Ever Sold In The U.S., According To Our Readers

These days, if you want something big and expensive, you’re pretty much guaranteed to end up in a luxury SUV. OK, well maybe not you, specifically, since you read Jalopnik and therefore have great taste. But most people? Most people go for luxury SUVs these days. On the one hand, if luxury is about having more than you need, all that extra ride height that goes unused is pretty luxurious. But if you care about focus and purpose, it’s hard to beat a good, old-fashioned land yacht. 

That’s why, on Monday, we asked you to name your favorite land yacht. We didn’t place any restrictions on what a land yacht could be and even left the door open for someone to defend the Escalade as the greatest land yacht of all time. Turns out, the most popular answers stuck to a pretty similar theme. Then again, they also picked some pretty great land yachts, so who’s arguing. Certainly not me. Let’s take a look at what made the cut. 

Just bought this over the weekend. Nothing can compare as a good balance between modern comforts, size, beauty, and usable space.

Suggested by: Canis Lupus

1975 Cadillac Eldorado. 126-inch wheelbase, 224-in length, and a curb weight of almost 5,000 lbs. The trunk was large enough to hold a six pack…of kegs. And to haul all of that around, an 8.2-liter (500 ci) V8 with a whopping 190 hp and 360 lb-ft of torque mated to a 3-speed automatic driving the front wheels.

Suggested by: Mr. Whatsittoya

74 Continental. The steering on an arcade game had more road feel, and the corner of the bumper would nearly scrape the ground if you turned too sharply. Long enough to need a panoramic shot.

Suggested by: Very Stable Genius

My wife had been handed down a 1969 White Cadillac Coupe de Ville that I drove frequently in 1983.

My own car at the time was a VW Scirocco. I was ‘floored’ by how powerful and nimble it was. It felt like a giant sports car. As graceful as a fat man dancing. No, there was no feedback from the road but it would instantly go wherever it was pointed, steering with two fingers and launch to hurtle down the road with massive torque and no drama. The only downside was you could actually see the gas gauge move under sustained acceleration, but it was engineered and built when gas was .29 cents a gallon.

Suggested by: Janodes (janodes)

1973 Imperial LeBaron. 235 inches long. Longest non-limousine mass-produced passenger car ever.

Suggested by: Cardood

1974 Ford Thunderbird. We had this exact car when I was a kid.

Suggested by: Surfs_Rockets

66 Buick Electra 225 with the 465 Wildcat.

This car was an absolute joy to drive and a level of comfort no modern vehicle can match.

Suggested by: #Racecar

I owned and drove a 1971 Oldsmobile 98 Regency. At over 226 inches long, you could lie on the hood without your feet hanging too far over the front end, both rows of seats were plenty roomy, plus you could lie down in the trunk to easily replace those 4X10 rear deck speakers.

Of course, the 455 Rocket got about 6 mpg.

Suggested by: Anonymous Person

The 1975 Chrysler New Yorker has to at least be considered. At 19.2 feet long it was huge, even for its day. Glorious.

Suggested by: JohnnyWasASchoolBoy

My grandfathers 84 Caprice 2-door. Suspension so soft an interstate pothole would have you floating for the next 2 miles with so much roll the door handles would scrape the pavement on any turn at speed.

Bonus that each of those doors was 7′ long and weighed a metric ton

Suggested by: Saul T