It’s your wedding day – time for something special. Horse and carriage? Too clichéd. Releasing 1,000 doves? Too much guano in the photos. But what about borrowing a Juventus star’s stretch limo? You old romantic, you...
Yes, for just £210 per hour the happy couple can rock up in Arturo Vidal’s 24ft 7in Chrysler 300 stretch limousine – the very car used by the 27-year-old and his wife for their own nuptials last December.
As well as the lingering scent of South America’s finest midfielder, it has capacious leather seats, a fully stocked bar and a banging stereo, complete with LED light show. The limo even seats 13 people, in case you fancy some serious wheels for your hen do before the wedding. Sadly, stags are a no-go.
‘Rey Arturo’ (King Arthur) set up Limusina VIP Chile after getting hitched – though he had a little help. “The idea of renting out the limousine was born because Arturo loves going on holiday to Miami and decided he wanted [a limo] after seeing so many there,” explained his cousin Carlos Albornoz, who is studying for a business degree. “We want to convert Arturo’s hobbies into saleable business.”
The caterpillar
The limo cost £93,000 to buy, fly to Chile and convert into the country’s longest car, including being cut in half for added decadence in the middle. Plans are afoot to increase the fleet, adding another behemoth and two conventional limos to Vidal’s pride and joy, which is nicknamed la limusina ortuga (the caterpillar limousine) by Chile’s press. And that’s not all.
“We’ve had talks with a few retail companies to develop an Arturo Vidal clothing range,” says Mauricio Acuna, director general of Vidal Investments.
“It will be comparable to Zara, H&M and Calvin Klein. At one point we wanted to associate ourselves with some of those names, but we decided his name alone is potent enough to market in itself.”
Hermoso Matrimonio en # SanJoseDeMaipo con toda la Elegancia y Distinción de April 15, 2015
Like the limo, that might be a bit of a stretch.
So for now, the focus is on Limusina VIP Chile. Vidal’s own wedding car will be made available to the elected queen of the Festival de Vina del Mar, the beauty pageant attached to South America’s version of Eurovision. One previous winner was current Modern Family star Sofia Vergara, which is only fitting seeing as the festival takes place in the Quinta Vergara Amphitheatre.
“We could also take it to El Derby [Chile’s Royal Ascot],” added Carlos Matus, Vidal’s new father-in-law (it’s a family business, this). "The demand has been pretty good. We’ve got a couple of weddings booked.”
However, one booking in Pucon, south Chile, has unfortunately fallen through – due to a volcanic eruption. It’s an understandable cancellation. Driving an international footballer’s stretch limousine through neighbourhoods destroyed by lava does smack of rubbing people’s noses in it.
More features like this every day on FFT.com
This feature originally appeared in the May 2015 issue of FourFourTwo
