10 Incredible Features In The President's Cadillac Limo

Presidential transportation is a thing that has been around as long as...well, presidents. There was a time when transporting the President was not much of a concern since everyone rode by horse or carriage and sniper rifles did not yet exist. While the Secret Service was created during Lincoln's presidency, the first protection of a president was not a full-time duty, and not until the assassination of President McKinley did the agency provide full-time protection of the president, according to the Secret Service website.

The duties of the Secret Service have evolved over time and have been updated with technology as the country grew. This has included the President's transportation, which involved special train cars at one time and then automobiles as they became part of mainstream American life. 1941 marked the first year the Presidential Limousine was armored, and all cars after Kennedy's assassination would be enclosed. Cars became increasingly armored and protective up until the modern-day.

The current vehicle. Introduced in 2018, is custom built by General Motors and takes the look of contemporary Cadillac models. The Secret Service keeps details about the Presidential Limousine secret, including former models. Everything that is known about the car comes from eagle-eyed reporting and a bit of speculation. The current vehicle, affectionately referred to as The Beast, is packed full of high-tech features, many of which we will never know. However, of those known to the public, here are ten incredible features of The Beast.

While the limousines of past Presidents have been modified versions of production models, the current vehicle is a custom build from the ground up. Car and Driver reports that the chassis is a GMC TopKick, a heavy-duty truck chassis, and the body panels are created to look similar to a production Cadillac limousine but are wholly unique to The Beast. From afar it looks much like a familiar Cadillac, but up close it becomes obvious it is a large vehicle, and that is apparent in pictures with people standing next to it, usually Secret Service agents.

The windows are especially tall to give a clear view of the President. The pillars and door frames are noticeably thicker and larger than most any other car on the road. The doors are also eight inches thick and said to weigh as much as the cabin door of a Boeing 747. There is good reason it is called The Beast.

Run-flat tires are a product that has been around in the consumer market for decades now. They have been adopted in consumer vehicles and the military alike. The advantages of such a tire are obvious.

The need for tires on such a high-security vehicle as a Presidential Limo is a bit different. The ability to continue driving after experiencing a puncture if traveling in a foreign country would give the Secret Service the ability to continue traveling until it is possible to ensure POTUS can transfer to accommodations or to another form of travel without delay. Not only would it keep from interrupting the President's schedule, but the country could also save itself from the embarrassment of having the leader of the free world experience a breakdown. It is not clear if AAA responds to POTUS. The L.A. Times says the tires on The Beast are ballistic resistant and reinforced with Kevlar, the same material used in bulletproof vests. Yahoo News Australia also notes the wheels themselves are reinforced more robust than the average passenger car. Not only would having a flat be a bad look for POTUS but having the tires shot out would be catastrophically bad.

Traveling to foreign countries for the President is a major undertaking. Besides all the arrangements for accommodations and functions in the itinerary need to be carefully planned and executed, all the transportation must be in place well in advance of arrival. Before any visit happens, the Secret Service delivers two or more of the limos to the destination country or countries by flying them on a cargo plane.

The workforce of our armed services is the venerable C-17 Globemaster which transports everything from heavy military equipment to humanitarian aid around the world, and this is what the Air Force uses to move The Beast around. The movement of the presidential vehicle may also be accompanied by a complement of servicemen stationed offshore on an aircraft carrier near the host country, according to the Air Force. Moving POTUS and the accompanying entourage is a major operation involving hundreds of people, dozens of people, and multiple aircraft and executes the most secure travel on Earth.

There are many copies of The Beast. GM was contracted to make twelve of them for a few reasons. Multiple limos are often used in a motorcade to transport not only the President but other officials and dignitaries. Multiple copies are needed to provide transport at both ends of a flight. Extra limos are also flown in or kept in a garage for redundancy. Most importantly, The Beast is built to an extremely high standard, but like the humans that build it, it is not perfect and breakdowns happen.

Previous versions of the car experienced breakdowns due to the added weight of all the safety features. The engines were the same as in passenger vehicles and wore out quickly. Other maladies can also arise. The Atlantic reported in 2011 an incident in which one of the limos got stuck exiting the embassy in Ireland. In videos of the incident, it appears the vehicle bottomed out and was prevented from continuing to drive. BBC posted a video of another time in which the limo had a bit of trouble exiting the prime minister's residence at 10 Downing Street. In the video, the driver attempts to turn the massive vehicle around and ends up in a five-point turn slowly getting the length of the ship righted and down the road.