Presidential state car (United States)

Presidential state car (United States)

The United States presidential state car is a unique Cadillac that debuted on September 24, 2018. Until the assassination of John F. Kennedy, presidential state cars frequently allowed the president to ride uncovered and exposed to the public. The current model is nicknamed ‘the Beast’ and weighs between 15,000–20,000 pounds. It is believed that the car was built on the GMC TopKick platform, weighs as much as 15,00 pounds, and has the capacity to sit seven people.

About Presidential state car (United States) in brief

Summary Presidential state car (United States)The United States presidential state car is a unique Cadillac that debuted on September 24, 2018. Until the assassination of John F. Kennedy, presidential state cars frequently allowed the president to ride uncovered and exposed to the public. President Kennedy’s assassination began a progression of increasingly armored and sealed cars. The car is hermetically sealed against fluid attacks, and features run-flat tires, night-vision devices, smoke screens, and oil slicks as defensive measures against attackers. In 2014, General Motors was awarded three contracts for the new limousine. Each state car was expected to cost US$1–1. 5 million, and by January 2016, GM had been paid USD 15,800,765 for its work on the new model. As of May 2019, the current model was used alongside the previous model. The current model is nicknamed ‘the Beast’ and weighs between 15,000–20,000 pounds. The Secret Service confirmed that the program to replace the presidential car was ‘on track and on schedule’ and should be in service by late summer 2018. The first serving president toride in a car was President William McKinley who briefly rode in a Stanley Motor Carriage Company steam car on July 13, 1901. President William Howard Taft’s purchase of four cars and the conversion of the White House stables into a garage in the early 20th-century led to the purchase of a four-car fleet on a budget of USD 12,000 : a Motor Pierce-Arrow car, a 4,000 dollar electric car, and a steam car.

President Taft became a fan of the steam car when he discovered he could conceal himself from press photographers with a burst of steam from a steam-roofed car. The president himself eschewed riding in the horse-and-buggy due to his ‘image as a rough-riding horseman’ The current state car has a capacity to seat seven, and is built upon a GM truck chassis. It has the headlamps from the Cadillac Escalade, and the grille from the Cadillac Escala concept car. In addition to defensive measures designed to protect the president, this state car also has stores of blood in the president’s type for medical emergencies. The exterior walls have a thickness of eight inches, the windows are multi-layered and five inches thick, and each door—believed to weigh as much as those on the Boeing 757—can electrify its handles to prevent entry. According to the United States Secret Service, it was customary for them to follow the presidential horse- andbuggy on foot, but that with the popularization of the automobile, the Secret Service purchased a White House-drawn carriage to follow President Theodore Roosevelt’s horse foot, foot, and horseman in 1907-1909. It is believed that the car was built on the GMC TopKick platform, weighs as much as 15,00 pounds, and has the capacity to sit seven people.