California cruisin' in l-o-n-g-e r limousine

A customised car shop drew up plans to make a stretched limousine out of Chrysler's PT Cruiser months before the car went on sale in the United States.

Ultra Limousines scanned pictures of the car into a computer and used a design programme to come up with a concept.

Then, when the retro-styled PT Cruiser was launched to a frenzied, all-American reception in April, the California company bought the first one it laid eyes on and began cutting and chopping.

Now, six months after the car took to America's streets, Ultra Limousines is about to sell stetched PT Cruiser number 10.

That the first nine went out the door so fast didn't surprise the company.

The demand in the luxury rent-a-ride market for stretched vehicles is huge in limo-crazy America, when even Ferraris are put on the rack.

Ultra begins by stripping out the car's interior and cutting the car in half between the front and rear doors.

The frame is reinforced underneath with 50mm by 100mm beams and new body and window panels extend it by 1870mm, taking the finished PT Cruiser to about six metres in length.

Inside, the standard Cruiser's rear seat is supplemented with an L-shaped lounge that runs along the left side and across the front.

Occupants can make use of the full bar, mirrors on the front wall and ceiling and small fibre-optic twinkling lights. The beefy sound system has a combined television/video player.

For emissions reasons the standard model's 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine has been retained. The front-drive limo doesn't have the added weight of a drive shaft, but the bulk of the body extension and heavier suspension system alone blunts the car's power somewhat.

Ultra fits a supplementary air-conditioning system to cool the extra cabin room, which is helped along by extra electrical power for the interior lights and entertainment system.

But before you ring Ultra to order a stretched PT Cruiser, remember that the 2.4-litre engine isn't available in New Zealand.

The other thing to remember is the price: $US35,000 on top of the Cruisers $US21,000. That works out to about $136,000 in New Zealand.