Blast-resistant and bulletproof: A closer look at US presidential limousine ‘The Beast’
The keys to the Oval Office at the White House come with a unique company car. Whether it's Donald Trump or Kamala Harris living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in January, the winner of today's US election will travel in one of the safest vehicles on the road.
Nicknamed The Beast, the current presidential limousine is heavily armoured (it weighs almost nine tons) and can carry up to seven people. While the first official presidential car in 1939 had a two-way radio, the £1.2 million Cadillac is based on a Chevrolet Kodiak truck and boasts an armoury of security equipment.
Bulletproof, blast resistant and hermetically sealed to withstand chemical attack, the purpose-built limo isn't pretty but packs a substantial punch. Many of its features are classified but reports claim the Beast can fire tear gas and is fitted with electrified door handles to shock potential intruders.
Instead of the Moet and Chandon you might expect, a fridge in the boot contains a stock of the president's blood type, while the secure communications system would enable the president to launch a nuclear attack. Inside, the leader of the free world is protected by three-inch thick bulletproof glass and eight inches of armour.
Naturally, the Secret Service is reluctant to reveal too much – several years ago I innocently queried which make and model of car was allocated to the US ambassador in London and almost caused a diplomatic incident.
However, on the Secret Service's website , the assistant director for the Office of Protective Operations states: "It is safe to say that the presidential car's security and coded communications make it the most technically advanced protection vehicle in the world."
It wasn't always that way – including a notable moment in 1963 that reverberated around the world . Yet 60 years before the JFK assassination, the president still relied on horsepower. Equine-loving Theodore Roosevelt snubbed his White Motor Company steam car to travel in a horse-drawn carriage.
His successor, William Taft, served from 1909-13 and obviously saw the writing on the wall. He converted the White House stables to garages and invested in an automotive fleet that included luxurious Pierce-Arrows, plus an electric and a steam car.
President Warren G Harding was the first qualified driver in the White House, during the early 1920s, while later Franklin D Roosevelt, who suffered with polio, broke Secret Service protocol in 1938 when he ensured his beautiful Ford Phaeton was modified for use with hand controls.
With the Ford Motor Company now very much in the presidential driver's seat, the automotive giant's luxury brand, Lincoln, was often the go-to manufacturer of state cars for decades to come, before Cadillac took over in 1983.
Ford archivist Ted Ryan explained: "After the Phaeton, FDR loved his 1939 'Sunshine Special' Lincoln, complete with two-way radio. It was the first car built exclusively for presidential use.
"Soon after, Roosevelt also became the first president to use an armoured vehicle when the Secret Service supplied him with a Cadillac 341A, seized from gangster Al Capone after a tax evasion case. The car had 1.3 tons of armour and inch-thick bulletproof glass."
Not surprisingly, Ryan says that the Lincoln in which John F Kennedy was assassinated is the most famous presidential car and draws large crowds at the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. The collection also includes vehicles that transported presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to George Bush.
"All the presidential cars were leased, so they remain the property of the manufacturer and often retire to a museum," says Ryan. "It's remarkable that JFK's car was confiscated as evidence after the assassination, then rebuilt. It continued in service with Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon for years. There is definitely an aura about that vehicle."
Ryan says the golden age of state cars has long passed, with security overriding any aesthetic considerations. Weighed down with armour and safety features, the outsize Beast can barely manage 4mpg. When Barack Obama visited Downing Street in 2016, his driver found it difficult to turn the 18ft limo around .
"I doubt we will see a new presidential car until the next decade but there's a real chance it could be a hybrid . A full electric vehicle? That's a long way off," says Ryan.
The star cars
Presidential vehicles since the 1980s have tended to be nondescript affairs – here are some classics from a different era:
After signing the Treaty of Versailles, Woodrow Wilson returned to the US and took charge of a Series 51 Pierce-Arrow, made in Buffalo, New York. The car featured a presidential seal on each rear door, plus a radiator badge for the American Automobile Association. When he left office in 1921, Wilson bought his car from the government for $3,000.
The first state car built to Secret Service specification, Roosevelt's open-top limo was known as the Sunshine Special because the roof was often open. Extra-wide running boards and grab handles were designed so agents could hang on the side. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, armour plating and bulletproof tyres were fitted – with storage compartments for machine guns.
President Truman's oversize Lincoln was the first in a fleet of 10 cars leased to the White House and featured seven inches of extra headroom for tall silk hats – a fashionable accessory at the time. The extra-padded rooflining was complemented by gold-plated fittings in the rear. When Eisenhower took office in 1953, he added a clear bubble top so crowds could see him more clearly in bad weather.
Coded SS-100-X by the Secret Service, JFK's Lincoln offered an extra 41 inches between the front and rear doors. Rear electric seat height adjustment was fitted, so the president could be seen more easily. Sleek and stylish, the Lincoln was the last open-top presidential car and curiously lacked many security features. After the assassination, titanium armour plating, a bulletproof permanent hardtop and glass were fitted.
Ronald Reagan chose a Cadillac, the luxury brand of General Motors, as his state car after years of Lincoln models. Encased in bulletproof glass and body armour, the 6.0-litre V8 ran on oversize tyres with self-levelling suspension to cope with the extra weight. Both the seats and roof were raised to make it easier for the president to be seen.
