2009

US President’s Limousine

The first car built for United States presidential use was a V12 Lincoln convertible designed for Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939. The attack on Pearl Harbor had generated interest in adding protective features, and subsequent events like the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 spurred engineers associated with the design and production of presidential vehicles to imagine myriad threats and find ways to protect against them. The culmination of these adaptations is the 2009 Cadillac limousine used by President Barack Obama.

What if someone tries to shoot out the tires? That’s going to be difficult, since the tires are Kevlar reinforced and shred resistant, with steel tires underneath. Even if the rubber completely disintegrates, the car can roll at full speed.

What if someone fires a rocket-propelled grenade? The doors and body panels are 8 inches (24 cm) thick and designed much like tank armor. If you ever see the limo with a door open, the door looks more like the door of a passenger jet in terms of its thickness and latching mechanisms. The windows are 5 inches (12.5 cm) thick with bulletproof glass that can reject armor piercing rounds.

What if the car runs over a mine? Five inches (12.5 cm) of steel under the car can deflect the blast. What about a chemical or biological threat? The car can seal itself off and use its own internal oxygen supply. What if a huge crowd gathers? There are tear gas cannons on board.

Another factor in the president’s safety is the convoy that the limousine travels with. There are approximately 45 vehicles in a typical convoy—everything from a special ambulance with surgeon onboard to communications vans, threat assessment vehicles, plenty of bodyguards in their own vehicles, even a spare limo just in case.

Then there are other precautions. When the motorcade goes by, the road, including all bridges over the road, have been cleared. This process can cause some serious traffic problems in big cities. Taken together, between the convoy, the procedures, and the limo itself, the secret service has kept the president safe for many years. It is an engineered system that can handle just about any contingency.

SEE ALSO AK-47 (1947), Kevlar (1971), M1 Tank (1980).

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden ride in the motorcade in Washington, DC, July 21, 2010, to sign the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.