Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 17, 1990                   TAG: 9007170096
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DOUGLAS PARDUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

A BARGAIN BY ANY STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION

And you've probably wondered:

Why's it there?

What's it like inside?

Who's selling it?

Who would buy it?

How much does it cost?

It's a LIMO - a big, long, white Lincoln-Continental STRE-E-E-E-TCH limousine, one with that big wing-like television antenna on top of the trunk.

For the past couple of months, it's been sitting at Mike Dudley's Roanoke Auto Service and gas station with a "For Sale" sign in the window.

The limo runs just fine, Dudley says, and he should know: He races cars at Franklin County Speedway. But test drives are out of the question for now because the limo needs a new inspection sticker.

Dudley hasn't gotten around to finishing the repairs and inspection because he's backed up with other work, and the limo's owner is in no hurry anyway. Besides, the owner would rather sell the limo than fix it, and he gets free advertising by parking it at the station where hundreds of commuters drive by every day.

Lots of people have come in to ask about it, Dudley says. But most are just curious.

Their first question is "How much?" The second is "Who's selling it?"

The answers are $2,500 and Francis Brown.

Brown, 45, bought the 1978 Lincoln Continental about five years ago for about $6,000, and says it's a pretty good bargain at $2,500. A new one goes for $40,000 to $60,000, and they don't look all that much different. Limos look like limos - lo-o-o-o-ong.

The 1978 limo was the first one Brown bought when he started Cartier Limousine Service. He had some initial problems that he hadn't expected. Police kept stopping him, thinking he was a drug dealer or something.

Now, the police don't bother him, and he has two other limos - a Cadillac and a 1986 Lincoln Continental - fully equipped with bars, color televisions, VCRs, stereos and sunroofs.

The old one doesn't have all of those amenities - just a stereo and a place to set up a bar. If no one buys it soon, Brown plans to restore it and put it back to work.

It's got a little rust, and seats need to be reupholstered, if for no other reason than to get rid of the color. The seats are green, REALLY green. It was that color when he bought it, Brown explains.

"But hey," he says. It's fitting for a limo. "It's the color of money."