Limousine services

Limousine or simple Limo is the name given to a luxury vehicle which is extraordinarily long. Limos are normally black or white in color, but other colors like blue and pink have also been made. Limos are often seen with the wealthy people and driven by chauffeurs. Limos are generally used by the government to transport famous politicians, senior people in the top rung, big companies to transport executives and chief guests. Limos are mostly used as delivery vehicles rather than luxury ones. The word limousine is derived from the name of the French region limousin.

Being long, a limousine is divided into two compartments, the front one is for the chauffeur and the rear one which is bigger than the front is dedicated to the customers. They are divided by a partition which sometimes is a sliding made of transparent glass or opaque material or sound proof glass. Sound proof glass is used to ensure the privacy of the customers from the chauffeur. Traditionally a limo has been an extension of a large sedan. A limo has a long frame and a wide wheel base which allows the rear seat passenger to stretch his legs as he wants to. There is a lot of free space available for the passenger to use. Sometimes there is a seat facing the rare of the car behind the driver called jump seats and are unfolded when not in use. Five persons can be comfortably seated in the rear of the car.

Popular limos in the world are from reputed companies and some of the models of limos are Audi A8L, Maybach 62, and Leyland miracle, BMW 760li, Mercedes Benz S-class, Cadillac DTS and Lincoln Town Car. Ford, jaguar, Lexus and Volkswagen also produce limousines of different kinds. All the modern limos do not have jump seats facing the back of the car, because usually stretch limos are used to transport more than three persons. In America, the jump seats are faced forward for some reason. Lincoln Company produces limos only on special orders. These vehicles are generally not used by individuals for their own purposes.

Limos are sometimes produced in the manufacturing unit by simply stretching the normal car further. The chassis is made longer and the body is then stretched by allowing more doors and space in the car. Since it is not wise to build a separate manufacturing unit for building these stretch limos (orders are comparably very low), producers use the same platform and build a limo. Platforms which use a separate load-bearing chassis or body are capable of building a stretch limo. Recently many coachbuilders are building their SUVs with detached load-bearing chassis.
A vehicle used for the usage of multiple passengers is the motorized stage. Though it is not an original limo, it is between a sedan and a bus in its design and its application. The only difference is that a bus has a single, long aisle, where as a stage has multiple doors for passengers to access the seats. A modern version of the stage can be found out in some vehicles like the Hummer and Hummer H2. These stages are generally not used for private hiring.
Special kinds of segment that many people prefer are the exotic limousines where the individual can modify the limousine according to his tastes. Though they might seem not suitable for transportation, yet they make a style statement of their own. Customized modification can be made on selected luxury marques like the Bentley, BMW, Audi, Cadillac, Chrysler, Ford, Hummer, Jaguar, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce and Volkswagen. Sometimes smaller cars like corvettes and Volkswagen Bugs are also converted into limos to seat atleast 10 passengers. Most of the custom coach builders or modifiers are in the United States and the Europe and supply mainly to limo companies. The average price of a stretch limo is $100,000 and costs more for additional features incorporated into the vehicle. Security features like sirens, alarming, armoring, and also bulletproof glass are also available for use.

About the Author

Wesam Saif is author of this article on San Francisco Limo Service. Find more information about Limousine Service here.