DJzone DJ Magazine

Luxury limos are getting “flashier” than ever. Along with the latest entertainment and communications systems, stretch limousines are being outfitted with strobe lights, laser beams and an array of other club lighting effects. Pulsating in synch with music from the vehicle’s sound system, the colorful lights give limo passengers the sensation that they’re traveling down the road in their own mobile discotheque.

“The whole idea is to create a nightclub on wheels,” said Jesse Lama Jr. of Royal Coach By Victor, an Anaheim, CA business that customizes vehicles for limousine services, hotels and celebrities. “The passengers will be riding along, and the driver will suddenly turn on the effects and ‘surprise’ them with a light show. Customers love it, especially the younger ones.”

Once a few limousine services began featuring light shows in their vehicles, others quickly hopped aboard the bandwagon, said Lama. “This trend really started to take off about two years ago. It’s getting to the point where people expect to find club lighting inside a limo.”

Installing disco lighting in limousines is “a big phenomenon today – and it’s getting bigger,” agreed Jason Sprenger of Light Bulbs Etc. (Orange, CA), a dealer/installer of American DJ products, who supplies Royal Coach By Victor with lighting for its limos. “We’re even seeing this trend spread to other vehicles like Hummers and Escalades, in addition to getting more and more popular for limousines.”

So popular, that Light Bulbs Etc. has put together a special package of American DJ lighting products specifically for limo installations. Included in this package are: two American DJ mini strobes, two Laser Widow red laser effects, a Color Pod multi-color moonflower effect, and a Fog Storm 700 fog machine.

Typically, said Sprenger, the effects will be positioned on the dividing wall between the driver’s seat and passenger cabin. The Color Pod is placed in the center of the wall with the two Laser Widows flanking it on either side. Because the Laser Widows and Color Pod are sound-activated effects, their movements will coordinate with music playing in the limo. The strobes are installed further down toward the floor so that their flashing occurs below eye level. Fog from the Fog Storm 700 is hosed in through heater vents on the floor. As a power source, the effects utilize 1000-watt inverters.

Other effects can be added to this basic package to create more elaborate limo lighting setups, said Sprenger. “We expect vehicle entertainment lighting systems to get even more sophisticated in the future,” commented Sprenger. “After all, limo services want to give their customers every possible luxury and amenity, and lighting can play an important part in creating this environment.”