Hyper-Limousine: Great, Another Car Segment…

When you think you’re overwhelmed with the amount of car types, one more is added.

Times used to be simple when it came to categorising cars. Saloon, hatchback, SUV, estate, sports car etc. A small, manageable number of categories existed in harmony but that all changed pretty quickly as time moved forward.

Nowadays, on top of the aforementioned, we have crossovers (which are often not to be confused as 4x4s), supersaloons, supercars, hypercars, subcompact cars, compact SUVs, MPVs, mini MPVs, hot hatches, shooting brakes, 2+2s, coupes that are also saloons, coupes that are also SUVs, SUVs that are also supercars, supercars that are also 4-seaters (looking at you, Porsche Taycan)…

There are many niche cars that muddy the waters by going against the grain and not really fitting neatly into any one existing car category. For instance, is the BMW i8 a supercar or just a sports car? Is the Audi Q3 a true SUV if it’s front-wheel-drive? Is the Mercedes G-Class still an off-roader if they’re mainly owned by rich people that use them for shopping at designer shops?

Humour aside, a new car segment has apparently entered the mix. We present to you, the ‘hyper-limousine’.

A car called the Aznom Palladium is seemingly so important that it deserves a totally new car segment to be invented just for it to be categorised in, alone. Although it may look like an SUV and the modern definition of limousine usually includes a car with more windows or to be in the ‘stretched’ format, the Palladium even dares to defy its own segment. What makes this car a limo? Although we certainly cannot deny it looks luxurious, in all the garish and grotesque ways possible, but this thing doesn’t even have a partition to divide the rear passengers and the chauffeur, a core part of what defines a limo.

Regardless, the Palladium is built by an Italian company call Aznom and this interesting design is said to have come right from the passionate and emotionful city of Monza. It’s certainly hard to believe.

Things get stranger once you learn it is based on the RAM 1500 pickup truck, making it a ‘hyper-limousine’ that looks more like a luxury SUV but is actually a pickup truck. Under the bonnet, the RAM 1500’s 5.7-litre V8 American engine still lurks beneath but it’s been modified to produce around 700bhp, helping the car achieve a 0-62mph time of just 4.5 seconds.

It may be quick, allegedly, but this Italian (but also American) hyper-limo (but also SUV) does not look conventionally attractive. Make of what you will of the outside but the greatness of a limo lies on its interior. Each of the 10 Palladiums made will have fully bespoke interiors, meaning each car will be different. That being said, we can still see that the interiors will be the height of luxury and comfort, featuring throne-like seating, plenty of places for expensive alcohol and the very finest materials this Earth has to be unfortunately plundered for.

If money wasn’t a factore, would you choose the Palladium over another hypercar? Let us know in the comments!

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