There is no doubt about it. The official limousine of the President of the United States is a great symbol of a country that introduced the large scale auto industry and the automobile culture to the world. On top of the presidential limousines and motorcades are icons of power and history as well as being valuable images of historical record. Who was alive in 1962 can forget the image of President John Kennedy’s Lincoln Continental “Bubbletop” on that fateful day in Dallas Texas November 1962.
What is the history and assortment of American Presidential Limousines? With what president and at what time point and preferences for vehicles were involved?
Indeed in the early days of the American nation, presidents were actually run on horsepower – with horses actually pulling the mode of transport, not automotive motors and conveyances.
President William H. Taft was the first leader of the US to keep an automobile at the White House for his use and transport. It seems that the President was given a personal transportation allowance, of which he allocated $ 25,000 for a white Model M Steamer. This was of course long before the days of Air Force One. For storage from the elements and maintenance part of the Presidential White House stables were actually converted into the first auto garage on White House grounds.
The next landmark of note in the sequence of Presidential limos and their introduction into the political landscape was when President Warren Harding drove to his inauguration in a Packard 6. It seems that the following presidents – Coolidge and Herbert Hoover seemed to have preferences for Pierce-Arrow fine motor cars.
However it appears that the first armored “parade” car was a Packard 12 utilized by President Roosevelt. Roosevelt goes down as well with note – as having provided for himself the first “official “ Presidential Limousine - a 1939 Lincoln V12 convertible , which was utilized to good purposes by FDR and later President Harry Truman. Interestingly this vehicle started its career as a 1939 model Lincoln, later modified or even hot rodded with a 1942 Lincoln front end. Known widely in White House and political circles as the “Sunshine Special” , this vehicle initiated what was to become a half century run of Lincoln automotive limos as the “official” white house limousine . Lincolns thus earned a mark of great distinction. The only break in this sequence was President Eisenhower’s inauguration parade which involved one of the first Cadillac Eldorados.
The last President to follow the Lincoln era was President George Bush Sr.
From then on – past President George Bush, the elder, it’s been General Motor Cadillac products through and through. President Bill Clinton had a Fleetwood Brougham, replaced in 2001 with the Cadillac Deville of George W. Bush. Currently President Barack Obama has at his service a hand crafted armored Cadillac DTS ( DeVille Touring Sedan) with four wheel drive. It’s no accident of nature that the Secret Service, guarding and protecting the President, refers to this vehicle fondly as “the beast”.
Published At: Isnare.com
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