LaRon Landry saw the flashing lights in his rear view mirror. Uh oh, must be the police pulling him over.
It turns out fans were photographing his truck. A gigantic truck.
A Ford F-650.
Oh yeah, an F-650. Many Redskins drive F-150s. You might see a big F-350 now and then. But, an F-650 is a showstopper. It’s like an F-16 flying down the highway.
Landry’s behemoth fills one parking space like Tom Jones once spilled into his jeans. We’re talking side to side and front to back. He parks it in the back lot of Redskins Park where a few empty spaces keep others from dinging his ride.
It’s so tall Landry sits even with passing 18-wheelers.
“I point to them like, ‘Hey, what’s up,’” Landry said.
But here’s the most amazing part — it goes coast to coast on one tank. Ashburn to Los Angeles and back without gassing up. Of course, filling those four 100-gallon diesel tanks that double as steps into the cab costs $1,500.
$1,500 to gas up!
“You have to go inside and tell [the gas station attendant] the exact amount,” said Landry of charging his credit card. “You put $1,500 in there, you’re good for a month-plus.”
Oh, it’s good to be young and rich.
A Hummer and a couple cars are also in Landry’s garage. However, he needed something to haul vehicles to his Louisiana offseason home so Landry struck a deal for the F-650 with his partner in a motor bike racing team. It’s an investment that surely some tax accountant has figured how to write off.
Landry got a good deal on it. A new one, if you can find it, can cost $125,000. There are several on Ebay in that range. It’s not that outrageous when remembering former Redskins receiver Michael Westbrook’s Lamborghini ran $250,000 a decade ago. Of course, it went 60 mph in reverse on the straightaway outside Redskins Park, supposedly. It looked like the space shuttle took off.
Landry doesn’t say how fast his F-650 goes. It has turbos, says supercharged on the door. Let’s just say triple figures have been surpassed on those long rides home to Louisiana.
If anyone gets in the way, there are three air horns mounted beneath the fender well. And no, they don’t play “Hail to the Redskins.” That would be tacky. It sounds more like a coming train, which it essentially is.
The big question is gas mileage. Well, you don’t own a vehicle that costs $1,500 to fill if you’re worried about gas mileage. That’s probably a year’s fuel for a hybrid. But, Landry said his truck gets better mileage than you’d think.
“That car runs better than my Hummer,” he said. “On the road, if I’m booking it, 14 miles per gallon. In the city with stops, 10 miles per gallon.”
Not a bad tradeoff given the entire offensive line could ride in the back.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
