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Change is coming to the streets of Washington, D.C. No, this isn't a story about the inauguration of the 44th President. This is a story about a car – the President's car.
Built by General Motors, the 2009 Cadillac Presidential Limousine (picture at left) replaces the DTS model that the U.S. government issued to George W. Bush in 2004. GM won't provide many details about the new vehicle's security features, of course, but the 2009 edition is the latest in a long line of presidential limos from the Detroit automaker.
Presidents and Cadillacs: Change and Continuity
According to Engineering News, President Woodrow Wilson was possibly the first commander-in-chief to ride in a Caddy, while touring Boston during a World War I victory parade in 1919. Calvin Coolidge was issued a Cadillac town car in 1928, and two Caddy convertibles were delivered to Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938.
In 1956, new cars called the Queen Mary II and Queen Elizabeth II replaced the vehicles that had served Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower through war and peace. The new Cadillac convertibles were smaller than the Queen Mary I and the Queen Elizabeth I, but were well-armed, fully-armored, and equipped with two-way radios.
The second-generation Queens remained in service until 1968, but open-air presidential motorcades had already become a part of the past. In November of 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in an open car in Dallas, Texas. A little over a year later, in January of 1965, Kennedy's successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, traveled the route of his own inauguration parade in a bulletproof limousine.
During the 1980s, President Ronald W, Reagan traveled in a Cadillac Fleetwood that was both bug-proof and bulletproof. President William J. Clinton also enjoyed a Fleetwood, but with a Brougham-Presidential series designation. Unlike previous models that, typically, were Cadillac cars modified by outside companies, the 1993 Presidential Brougham was 100% GM designed, developed, and manufactured.
In continuing this tradition, Cadillac delivered a first limousine to President George W. Bush in 2001. Three years later, the president began riding in a the new DTS model.
The 2009 Presidential Limousine
Presidents have their share of critics, and there's little in life of the world's most powerful person that remains out of public view. So it comes as no surprise that even the President's car is fair game. In a recent story for the Christian Science Monitor called "Obama's new limo – ugly but it can fend off asteroids", Jimmy Orr gives the 2009 presidential limousine its first dirt bath. "You know that Cadillac commercial that says, 'When you turn your car on, does it return the favor?'" writes Orr. "Well, you might have to be a masochist then to enjoy Barack Obama's new caddy."
But the First Limousine doesn't need to do be a beauty queen. In fact, it's better to have a vehicle that's a pit bull – with or without the lipstick. Dubbed "The Beast" by the U.S. Secret Service, the Obama-mobile is reportedly plated with armor five inches thick. The windows are bulletproof, the tires are run-flat, and the interior is so tight that it's immune to chemical attack.
But will he be able to hear Hail to the Chief?
Resources:
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/cadillac-unveils-obamas-new-presidential-limousine-2009-01-15
http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/01/15/obamas-new-limo-ugly-but-it-can-fend-off-asteroids/
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