Stair car

Stair car
Appearances: Season One, Season Two, Season Three , Season Four, Season Five

The stair car was one of the few remaining modes of transport available to the Bluth family, and was frequently driven by Michael Bluth. It was originally paired with the company jet, which was sold off to help deal with the company's financial woes. It had a large Bluth Company logo on the side.

It has led a notorious existence, knocking down banners, ("Queen for a Day") helping inmates attempt to escape prison, ("Visiting Ours") ("Prison Break-In") and letting people sneak to upstairs windows. ("Shock and Aww") A constant problem while driving it is avoiding hop-ons. ("Sword of Destiny")

Michael gave the stair car to George Michael when he debarked for college. ("Flight of the Phoenix") Maeby then traded it for Lucille Austero's yellow 1987 Cadillac Coupe DeVille. ("Señoritis") Lucille Austero then had the Austero Bluth Company logo painted on the side and used it in her Congressional campaign. ("Flight of the Phoenix") At Cinco de Cuatro Lucille 2 was potentially murdered on the stair car. ("Off the Hook") When Lucille Austero vanished, Sally Sitwell had "Vote for Sitwell" painted on the side of the stair car. ("Señoritis")

Quotes

  Michael Bluth: Watch out for bridges and hop-ons; you're gonna get some hop-ons.
From "Key Decisions"

Michael: Stair car basics: In order to get this thing up to a minimum speed, you’ve got to jam on the gas pedal for about a minute, okay? But in order to slow this thing down, you’ve got to get almost immediately back on the brake pedal, ’cause you’ve got about two tons of stairs behind you.

George Michael: Okay.

Michael: We’re gonna cover the hydraulic flaps and the riser system after I tell you the basics about how to avoid a hop-on. But the first thing we’re going to go over... Ow...

 

 From "Sword of Destiny"

Trivia

• Three different truck cabs were used over the filming of the series, all Ford F350s. A 1978 or '79 model, a mid-1980s model, and a 1967-72 model updated with a late '70s grille.
  • The Bluth Company logos on the side and top of the stairs are inconsistent from episode to episode because of these changes.
• The stair car appears in the 2016 superhero movie Captain America: Civil War during a fight scene at an airport. The film was directed by Anthony & Joe Russo who directed multiple episodes of Arrested Development.

Images

Season one

Season two

Season three

Season four

Season five