What makes a limousine a limousine?

There is no standard limousine make or model; instead, the word refers to a vehicle that has a larger compartment in the rear half of the car than an average car. To call a car a limousine, you really only need a good car that has a lot of legroom in the back compartment. Watch them cut a Chrysler 300 in half and stretch it into a luxurious ride. It is complete with a bar, disco lights and leather seats.

The following is a transcript of the video. The limousine body style generally has a partition that separates the driver from the rear passenger compartment. It wasn't until Woodrow Wilson was traveling in a chauffeured car that the limousine was used to transport important people. In Great Britain, the de-ville limousine was a version of the limousine city car in which the driver's cabin was outside and had no weather protection.

Limousines are usually vehicles with a long wheelbase, in order to provide more legroom in the passenger compartment. In some countries, such as the United States, Germany, Canada and Australia, a limousine service can be any rental car with a pre-booked driver, usually, but not always, a luxury car. The closed part of the car was said to resemble the limousine capes worn by the shepherds of the field. After re-upholstering the original rear seat to match, they return it to its original place in the back of the limousine.

As such, the 1916 definition of a limousine by the Society of Automotive Engineers of the United States is an enclosed car that seats three or five people inside and the driver's seat outside. In the United States, the subcategories of limousines in 1916 were the sedan, defined as a limousine with the driver's seat completely closed, and the brougham, defined as a limousine without a roof over the driver's seat. Vehicles converted into innovative elastic limousines include the East German Trabant, the Volkswagen Beetle, the Fiat Panda and the Citroën 2CV. A Washington DC limousine (also called a limousine) is an extended luxury car driven by a chauffeur with a separate passenger compartment.

The word “limousine” was first used in France and means “long shepherd's cloak” or “cape”. Elastic limousines are longer than regular limousines, usually to accommodate more passengers. The last production limousine, from Cadillac, with forward-facing jump seats was in 1987 (with its Fleetwood 75 Series model), the last Packard in 1954 and the last Lincoln in 1939, although Lincoln has offered limousines through its dealerships as special order vehicles on occasion. A bus company called Armbruster created an elastic limousine in Fort Smith, Arkansas, around 1928.