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Limos in Denver are quite popular. Many people choose to use limousine service to go to the Denver airport or ride around the Denver metro area in style. Many people have no idea how the limousine was invented, however. The words "limousine" and "chauffeur" have been used prior to the 1900's when carriages and trains required professional drivers to manage horses and steam engines.
The word "limousine" actually came from the Limousine region of France where sheep and goat shepherds used over-sized, hooded garments to protect themselves from inclement weather. Automobile drivers later used a similar garment for sitting in an open and exposed cockpit, while the owner of the vehicle rode in luxury in the rear seats. The first stretch limousine was created in Arkansas in 1928 by a car company named Armbruster. The limousines were mainly used by famous big band leaders, such as Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller to travel and carry their musical equipment and instruments across the United States.
As a result, the early limousines were called big band buses. In the 1930's and 1940's Airporter Stretch Coaches were used by hotels across the US to transport guests from airports, and by sightseeing tourist companies to take groups of guests on tours. Limousines are still used for airport transportation, especially in Denver. Stretch limousines became a "must have" for Hollywood actors and actresses.
They were also used for the practical use of transporting film crews and stage personnel around the moving sets. In 1962, Armbruster merged with Stageway Coaches from Ohio and became Armbruster-Stageway Coachbuilders. In 1974, the first six-door funeral limousines were built on Cadillac chassis. Eventually a product line of Lincoln Stretch Limousines was included due to the growing use of Lincoln within the limousine and funeral industries.
The general mission statement for the limousines and the company was to move people from place to place, only in larger cars, however. In the 1960's and 1970's limousines were used more and more for general transport for American presidents and movie stars. Due to their increase in popularity, many more custom coachbuilders began trading. Federal Coach bought out Armbruster-Stageway in the late 1980s.
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