What is the exact difference between car and limousine?

A limousine (or limo) is an unusually long luxury car, traditionally black or white in color. Limousines are most commonly driven by chauffeurs.
While some limousines are owned by individuals, many are owned by governments to transport senior politicians, by large companies to transport executives, or by broadcasters to transport guests. Most limousines, however, operate as livery vehicles, providing upmarket competition to taxicabs.
For the most part, only limousine service and rental companies own limousines. Even those who use limos as their main mode of city transportation usually do not own the limo — they contract with a limousine service for long term availability through a lease arrangement. Those in need of a limo will usually contact a rental company to provide transportation on a very short term basis. The most common requirements are for transportation to an airport, proms and weddings.
A limousine typically has a partition between the driver compartment and the rear passenger compartment. This partition usually contains a sliding glass window so that conversations between passengers in the rear compartment may be kept private from the chauffeur.
Traditionally, the limousine has been an extension of a large sedan. A longer frame and wheelbase allow the rear passenger compartment to contain the usual forward facing passenger seat but with a substantial amount of footroom — more than is actually needed. Usually then two "jump seats" are mounted, facing rearward behind the driver. These seats fold up when not in use. In this way, up to five persons can be carried in the aft compartment in comfort, and up to two additional persons carried in the driver's compartment, for a total capacity of seven passengers in addition to the driver. This type of seat configuration has however become less popular in recent limousines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limousine

I'm going to cut and paste this one, because it's easier. Quote: 1902, "enclosed automobile with open driver's seat," from Fr. limousine, from Limousin, region in central France, originally an adj. referring to its chief city, Limoges. Modern automobile meaning evolved from perceived similarity of the car's profile to a type of hood worn by the inhabitants of that province. Since 1930s, synonymous in Amer.Eng. with "luxury car;" applied from 1972 to vehicles that take people to and from large airports. End quote.
Here's a link to the Society of Automotive Engineers (USA) vehicle types (here applied to Chrysler Imperials, but the same idea works elsewhere too).
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a26410397/1953-chrysler-imperial-presidential-limousine/ What we now call a limousine isn't what it started off as. The word 'car' is 'automobile' in the USA, and applies to all types of car (automobile) whatever category they fall into. Most of the ones on the list of SAE types are now obsolete, but some (berlina) are in use on Europe still. Some American models get called Phaeton, Brougham and so on, but bear little resemblance to the original type.

"lim·ou·sine /ˈlɪməˌzin, ˌlɪməˈzin/
–noun

1. any large, luxurious automobile, esp. one driven by a chauffeur.
2. a large sedan or small bus, esp. one for transporting passengers to and from an airport, between train stations, etc."

Dictionary.com



"limousine Look up limousine at Dictionary.com
1902, "enclosed automobile with open driver's seat," from Fr. limousine, from Limousin, region in central France, originally an adj. referring to its chief city, Limoges. Modern automobile meaning evolved from perceived similarity of the car's profile to a type of hood worn by the inhabitants of that province. Since 1930s, synonymous in Amer.Eng. with "luxury car;" applied from 1972 to vehicles that take people to and from large airports. Abbreviation limo is 1960s, Amer.Eng. Limousine liberal first attested 1969."


http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=l&p=7

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=l&p=7


Simply put...A limo is a luxury car driven by someone else to transport a person to and fro. There is no difference between a car (as in town car or car service) and a limo. It may come down to perceptional semantics.

A stretch limousine is a different creature entirely!

Same as a limo but much longer, spacious and full of "stuff" to please the occupants.