Man Creates Pan Am Jet Cabin in Garage
A couple hours outside of Los Angeles there's a huge airplane junkyard. It caters mostly to Hollywood, selling movie props -- but Anthony Toth shops there for a very different reason.
CBS News Correspondent Steve Hartman reports Toth wants to own a 747. And for the last 20 years he's been buying it, one piece at a time.
Specifically, his dream has been to build a Pan Am 747. The airline has been out of business since 1991, but Toth's dream goes back even further.
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As a kid, Toth was so fascinated by the plane his family took on vacation he would snap pictures of every one of its parts.
"I think I wanted to recreate the experience of flying at home," he said.
Later, as an adult, he started purchasing those parts, in hopes that someday he could recreate the actual plane, right down to the place settings.
Impossible you say? Welcome aboard.
If you didn't know better you'd think it was 1979 and you were on board a vintage Pan Am 747 clipper jet. But if you take away the airplane sounds, and open up the main cabin door, you'll see this isn't exactly an exact replica -- it's just as much of the plane as Toth could fit in his garage.
What Toth does have is the entire first class cabin and galley, which he uses for entertaining. And just about everything is vintage - except the custom package peanuts, which he buys new.
"Because there already is a 30 year old nut in the cabin," Hartman said.
"Well said," Toth agreed.
In total, he's put well over $50,000 into the project. And he's not done.
"I'm never satisfied with the cabin," Toth said. "I always want more."
Ironically, Toth works as a sales manager for United Airlines. He's not married (go figure). So there's really no one to reign him in.
Just be glad you're not a neighbor. And be gladder still, that Toth's family didn't vacation on cruise ships.
