Audi A8 L Extended is one-off mega limo

Well, good news! If you've got the dough, Audi is willing to take that puny A8 and give it a good, hard stretch.

For one lucky (and presumably not cash-short) customer, Audi has created this special, one-off A8 limo, called the A8 L Extended. It's a whopping 6.36 metres long, with a wheelbase of 4.22 metres. Audi says that it took almost a year to create the car, with much time spent on how to achieve the increase in length without compromising either the safety or the styling.
 
So, the side-sills and centre tunnel have been extended with extruded aluminium, while behind the rear-most seats is a double-bulkhead and extra stiffening in the roof panels to help keep everything plumb. Audi says that the overall torsional rigidity is on a par with the standard long-wheelbase A8.

Inside there are luxurious seats for six (all forward-facing, rather oddly) with a humongous 2.4-metre-long glass moon roof. Each seat individually reclines and there are seat-back TVs and a cool box. Of course.

There are window blinds for each seat to prevent all that extra glass from overheating the cabin, while the head-and-tail lights contain discreet extra marking lights, which are legally required for something this long.

Oddly, considering the opulent spec, it's not powered by the mighty 6.0-litre W12 engine, but instead a much more humble 3.0 TFSI V6. Still good enough for 0-100km/h in 7.1 seconds and a top whack of 250km/h, says Audi. It does have the brakes from an S8, mind, to help reel in the 2.4-tonne kerb weight, and yes, it has quattro four-wheel drive although it must be a monster of a prop-shaft. Audi doesn't quote fuel consumption but it's probably pretty hilarious.

Oddly, it's not for the Chinese market, but for a wealthy European customer instead. And if you've got the readies, Audi will build one for you too - although it's not set to be a production model, one-offs will continue to be made for interested customers for as long as the current A8 is in production.