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1908 Studebaker limousine with an open driver's compartment

1953 Rolls-Royce Phantom IV (coachwork by Hooper)

A limousine (/ˈlɪməziːn/ or /lɪməˈziːn/), or limo (/ˈlɪmoʊ/) for short,^[1] is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically.^[2] A luxury sedan with a very long wheelbase and driven by a professional driver is called a stretch limousine.^[3]

In some countries, such as the United States, Germany, Canada, and Australia, a limousine service may be any pre-booked hire car with a driver, usually, but only sometimes a luxury car. In particular, airport shuttle services are often called "limousine services", though they often use minivans or light commercial vehicles.^[2]

The word limousine is derived from the name of the French region Limousin; however, how the area's name was transferred to the car is uncertain.

One possibility involves a particular type of carriage hood or roof that physically resembled the raised hood of the cloak worn by the shepherds there.^[4][5]

An alternate etymology speculates that some early chauffeurs wore a Limousin-style cloak in the open driver's compartment for protection from the weather.^[6] The name was then extended to this particular type of car with a permanent top projecting over the chauffeur.^[4] This former type of automobile had an enclosed passenger compartment seating three to five persons, with only a roof projecting forward over the open driver's area in the front.^[7]

Wealthy owners of expensive carriages and their passengers were accustomed to their private compartments leaving their coachman or driver outside in all weathers. When automobiles arrived, the same people required a similar arrangement for their chauffeurs. As such, the 1916 definition of limousine by the US Society of Automobile Engineers is "a closed car seating three to five inside, with driver's seat outside".^[8]

In Great Britain, the limousine de-ville was a version of the limousine town car where the driver's compartment was outside and had no weather protection.^[9]: 103 The limousine-landaulet variant (also sold in the United States) had a removable or folding roof section over the rear passenger seat.^[9]: 100

In the United States, sub-categories of limousines in 1916 were the berline, defined as "a limousine having the driver's seat entirely enclosed", and the brougham, described as "a limousine with no roof over the driver's seat."^[8]

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  Diagram showing an exposed driver's seat
• 
  1915 Winton Six Limousine; note the open driver's compartment
• 
  1941 Lincoln Custom limousine interior showing the occasional seats
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  US-Army, Chevrolet Fleetline, stretch limousine, 15-Passenger (1943)

The president of the United States has ridden in a variety of brands of state cars starting from 1899 when President William McKinley was the first to ride in a car, a steam Locomobile.^[10][11][12]

U.S. limousine business declined in the 21st century due to the effects of the Great Recession, the subsequent rise of ride sharing apps, and an industry crisis precipitated by deadly stretch limousine crashes in 2015 and Schoharie, New York, in 2018. Moreover, during this time, people who would have once utilized limousines began opting to travel more discreetly in cars like black SUVs.^[13]

The limousine body style usually has a partition separating the driver from the rear passenger compartment.^[6][9] This partition usually includes an openable glass section so passengers may see the road. Communication with the driver is possible either by opening the partition window or using an intercom system.

Limousines are often long-wheelbase vehicles to provide extra legroom in the passenger compartment. There will usually be occasional seats (in the U.S. called jump seats) at the front of the compartment (either forward-facing, rear-facing, or able to face either direction).

Many nations have official state cars designed to transport government officials. The top leaders have dedicated and specially equipped limousines. The United States Presidential State Car is the official car of the President of the United States.

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  The official state car of the Monarch of the United Kingdom
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  Passenger compartment of the late Queen Elizabeth II's car with occasional seats folded down
• 
  Cadillac One limousine of the President of the United States

Stretch limousines are longer than regular limousines, usually to accommodate more passengers. Stretch limousines may have seating along the sides of the cabin.

A "stretch limousine" was created in Fort Smith, Arkansas, around 1928 by the Armbruster coach company. Their vehicles were primarily used to transport famous "big band" leaders, such as Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman, and their members and equipment. These early stretch limousines were often called "big band buses". Armbruster called their lengthened cars "extended-wheelbase multi-door auto-coaches". Their 12-passenger coaches were used by hotels, taxis, airlines, corporations, and tour companies.^[14] Knock-down programs by automakers made coachbuilders stretch vehicles, but Armbruster also custom built limousines using unibody construction such as the 1969 AMC Ambassadors.^[15]

As of 2023^[update], stretch limousines comprise one percent of U.S. limousine company offerings. That total was down from about ten percent in 2013.^[13]

A variety of vehicles not designed as limousines have been converted into novelty limousines.^[16] Another style of novelty limousine are those painted in bright colors, such as purple or pink.^[17]

Vehicles converted into novelty stretch limousines include the East German Trabant, Volkswagen Beetle, Fiat Panda, and Citroën 2CV. There are instances of Corvettes, Ferraris, and Mini Coopers being stretched to accommodate up to 10 passengers.

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  Volkswagen Beetle limousine
• 
  Lada limousine in Cuba
• 
  Trabant limousine

• 
  Lincoln Navigator stretch limousine
• 
  Division in a 1993 Bentley Turbo R

• Car classification
• Party bus

• The dictionary definition of limousine at Wiktionary
• Media related to Limousines at Wikimedia Commons

For other uses, see Charter (disambiguation).

Grant of authority or rights

A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the recipient admits a limited (or inferior) status within the relationship, and it is within that sense that charters were historically granted, and it is that sense which is retained in modern usage of the term. In early medieval Britain, charters transferred land from donors to recipients.

The word entered the English language from the Old French charte, via Latin charta, and ultimately from Greek χάρτης (khartes, meaning "layer of papyrus"). It has come to be synonymous with a document that sets out a grant of rights or privileges.

Other usages

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The term is used for a special case (or as an exception) of an institutional charter. A charter school, for example, is one that has different rules, regulations, and statutes from a state school.

Charter can be used as a synonym for "hire" or "lease", as in the "charter" of a bus, boat or plane.^[1]

A charter member (US English) of an organization is an original member; that is, one who became a member when the organization received its charter.^[2] A chartered member (British English) is a member who holds an individual chartered designation authorized under that organization's royal charter.^[3][4]

Different types of charters

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Anglo-Saxon charters

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Anglo-Saxon charters (also called diplomas) are documents drawn up between the seventh century and 1066 in Britain, which typically make a grant of land or record a privilege. They are usually written on parchment, in Latin. Around 200 survive in their original form, and many of the others have been altered or forged. The oldest surviving charters granted land and privileges to the church, but from the 8th century surviving charters were increasingly used to grant land to lay people.^[5]

The British Empire used three main types of colonies as it sought to expand its territory to distant parts of the earth. These three types were royal colonies, proprietary colonies, and corporate colonies. A charter colony by definition is a "colony chartered to an individual, trading company, etc., by the British crown."^[6] Although charter colonies were not the most prevalent of the three types of colonies in the British Empire, they were by no means insignificant.

A Congressional charter is a law passed by the United States Congress that states the mission, authority, and activities of a group. Congress issued federal charters from 1791 until 1992 under Title 36 of the United States Code.

A corporate charter is a document or charter that establishes the existence of a corporation in the United States and Canada.

A charter of "Inspeximus" (Latin, literally "We have inspected") is frequently a royal charter, by which an earlier charter or series of charters relating to a particular foundation (such as a monastery or a guild) was recited and incorporated into a new charter, usually in order to confirm and renew its validity under present authority. Where the original documents are lost, an inspeximus charter may sometimes preserve their texts and lists of witnesses.

A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which they are located. Often, this event is marked by the award or declaration of a municipal charter, a term used because municipal power was historically granted by the sovereign, by royal charter.

Charters may establish or govern the operation of chivalric orders and other orders, such as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

In project management, a project charter (sometimes called the terms of reference) is provided by the sponsor to formally authorize the existence of a project. It provides a preliminary delineation of roles and responsibilities, outlines the project purpose and objectives, identifies key stakeholders, and defines the authority of the project manager. It serves as a reference of authority for future planning of the project. The project scope is developed from the project charter.

A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but since the 14th century have only been used in place of private acts to grant a right or power to an individual or a body corporate.^[7][8][9] They were, and are still, used to establish significant organisations such as boroughs (with municipal charters), universities and learned societies, and were used historically to establish companies.

The Charter of 1814, France's constitution during the Bourbon Restoration, was thus called to promote the legal fiction that the King had granted it "voluntarily, and by the free exercise of [his] royal authority", in the manner of medieval charters.

At one time a royal charter was the only way in which an incorporated body could be formed, but other means (such as the registration process for limited companies) are generally now used instead.

A university charter is a charter issued to create or recognise a university. The form of charter used varies by period and jurisdiction.^[10]

In the context of a political uprising, a charter might lay out the basic principles and goals of the movement, define the organizational structure of the movement, and describe the roles and responsibilities of its members.^[11]

• Kemp,Roger L., "Model Government Charters: A City, County, Regional, State, and Federal Handbook", McFarland and Co., Inc., Publisher, Jefferson, NC, and London, ENG (2007). (ISBN 978-0-7864-3154-0).
• Kemp, Roger L., "Documents of American Democracy: A Collection of Essential Works", McFarland and Co., Inc., Jefferson, NC, and London, ENG. (2010). (ISBN 978-0-7864-4210-2).

• Media related to Charters at Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition of charter at Wiktionary