Most people often see limousines where there's only a single passenger, if not a handful of VIPs, either in real life or TV shows. While this is often out of circumstance (e.g., the Prime Ministerial Limousine), with the right outfit, a limo is capable of holding way more than one person of utmost importance.
How many, you ask? It depends on the model. You may think that limos are long, but any passenger vehicle, like a sedan or SUV, can be considered one. The difference, aside from having a longer wheelbase for a stretch limousine, lies in the presence of a partition separating the front and rear compartments inside the vehicle.
Here's a look into the limo capacity of the different types typically operated by a limo hire Perth clients trust. Knowing them goes a long way in saving costs.
Vintage Limos
Early limousines were luxury horse-drawn carriages. With the invention of the automobile, however, they became associated with the limos we're familiar with. Car manufacturers in the 1920s and 1930s saw the potential of selling such a vehicle, especially with celebrities and other VIPs wanting to add luxury transport to their wealth and status.
One of the oldest and rarest limos still plying Australia's roads – and the oldest in our fleet in terms of manufacturing history – is the eight-seater REO Speed Wagon. Initially a light truck, it found potential as a luxury vehicle that could seat an entire family. Due to its one-year production run (1933-1934), there aren't that many out on the road today.
An eight-seat limo capacity was already plenty by that period's standards. Most models back in the day could only seat half as many, similar to regular sedans. Examples include the Jaguar Mark V, Rolls Royce Silver Cloud and Rolls Royce Silver Wraith.
The limited seating on the sedan-type vintage limos means they're best used for ferrying an individual or couple. This makes them popular at weddings, enabling the bride to arrive at the venue or the couple to go on their honeymoon in old-fashioned but still first-class style.
SUV Limos
Sports utility vehicles (SUVs) are already luxurious in their own right, given their hefty price tag and a slew of features. SUV limos, on the other hand, take luxury several steps up by stretching out regular SUVs.
Luxury isn't the only thing that defines this type of limo. Combining the first-class comfort of limos and the ruggedness of SUVs, SUV limousines are perfect for enjoying a limo ride around the city in most weather and road conditions.
More importantly, the SUV's spacious boot and cabin carry over to its limo counterpart. Examples include the Jeep Grand Cherokee Limousine, which seats 12, and the Hummer H4 Mega Limo, which seats an astounding 24. Their capacity is maximised thanks to the bench seating arrangement.
Because of this, they're normally loaded with party essentials like glassware, ice boxes and changing indoor lights. They're designed for holding lavish parties for large groups, namely bucks and hens' nights.
Stretch Limos
A stretch limousine is essentially an elongated version of a regular model. By this definition, the SUV limo examples just now can be considered stretch limos. For this, however, we have the Chrysler 300C limo, which can hold up to ten passengers.
Over the decades, limousines grew longer and more spacious. From the four and eight-seaters that defined the era of the automobile, today's models could hold a major party inside with ease.
Seeing the typical limo grow in size begs the question: how long can a limo get before it becomes impractical to drive? The Guinness World Record holder for the longest limo remains the American Dream, with a bumper-to-bumper length of 30.54 metres.
Chauffeured Car
Last but not least, we have a type of limousine that isn't conventionally considered one by any stretch of the imagination. We refer to them as a “chauffeured car,” which is a normal luxury vehicle driven by a professional chauffeur or driver.
One example in our fleet is our recently fielded Mercedes-Benz GLS350d SUV, which can seat seven passengers.
Legal vs. Comfortable Capacity
We've explained the capacities of each type of limo, namely the ones Allure Limousines operate. However, there's one important thing worth noting. All these refer to the “legal” capacity, as declared by the manufacturer or authorities.
Australia has laws prohibiting packing vehicles beyond their legal capacity because such a thing is a road mishap waiting to happen. Also, given that some of our limos are among the only working ones of their kind, overloading will accelerate the wear and tear on their parts due to the sheer weight.
That said, the human body comes in various shapes and sizes. As such, a limo can be filled to maximum even if the passenger count is less than the legal capacity. This is known as a limo's “comfortable capacity” – something you'd want to take into account. As a rule of thumb, allow an offset of two to three passengers to the actual count to maximise comfort.