On Saturday night, I saw a long limousine parked by the roadside, with a bunch of teenagers milling around outside it. I assume it had either just taken them to a party or was just about to.

Parked behind that was a second long vehicle, of a type I hadn't encountered before. It was to a limousine as an SUV is to a normal car: taller, rugged-looking design, big wheels, intimidating front grille, but still a long vehicle. A Sports Utility Limo.

I suppose, thinking about it, there are one or two practical advantages to the design over a normal limo; for instance, it might be easier to move about inside it with a bit more headroom.

However, I was a little disturbed nonetheless by the concept of an SUV limo, and in particular I can't help thinking that what the world really needs is for Jeremy Clarkson to take one off-road and laugh at its performance :-)