Top Limo's A Hum-dinger

Feast your eyes on the world's best limo - and that's official. It's called The Joker, and is a £160,000 Hummer with a 5,000-watt stereo, six flat-screen TVs and an on-board casino. The top honour has been bestowed by Chauffeur magazine, the industry bible for limousine operators.

Auto Express Car Reviews

12th May 2005

Judges were impressed by the flame-effect paintjob, worth ΂£10,000, gullwing doors, a fully equipped bar and even a mirrored ceiling.

London rental company Hire Limos imported the 170-inch SUV from the US and told us it costs up to ΂£2,000 a night to hire. "We wanted something different to everything else on the market," explained a spokesman. "Our Hummer is totally unique."

But The Joker isn't the only stretched SUV on the road. Father-of-six Mike Trathen from Plymouth, Devon, spent ΂£31,000 making his Mercedes M-Class 79cm longer. That's 31 inches - or a massive ΂£1,000 per inch!

"I have so many kids, a normal MPV isn't big enough," said Mike. "I didn't want a glorified Ford Transit, and got the idea of stretching my car from a Mazda MX-5 I saw in Germany."