Ground force one: Presidents' cars built for safety, comfort

The Virginian-Pilot (MCT) - After Barack Obama takes the oath of office Tuesday, he'll ride to the White House in a new custom-built Cadillac limousine that, other than larger windows, isn't dramatically different from the presidential limo built for President George W. Bush in 2005.

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But that doesn't mean the car isn't unique.

"Making comparisons to any other car falls apart because there is no comparable car," said Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell.

The specifications and construction of presidential cars are overseen by a small government group that has run the program for years.

GM declined to say much about the specifications for Obama's car or how many of the models are being built.

Meanwhile, Bush's limousine will remain in use in the White House fleet.

Cadillac has supplied presidential vehicles for years, and it's a job the company takes pride in. "It's an assignment that we treasure as a part of our heritage," Caldwell said.

Cadillac isn't the only brand that provided presidential transportation.

One hundred years ago, Congress first approved money for a White House automobile fleet for President William Howard Taft. The first presidential garage would please environmentalists of today _ it included a steam-powered, 40-horsepower White Model M seven-passenger touring car and a Baker Electric.

After signing the armistice agreement that ended World War I, Taft's successor, Woodrow Wilson, first rode in his 1919 Pierce-Arrow Vestibule Suburban Limousine. Wilson never drove the car; he didn't know how to drive. After leaving office, he bought the car for $3,000.

The Pierce-Arrow can be seen at Wilson's presidential library in Staunton, Va.

Two years after acquiring the Lincoln Motor Car Co., Ford supplied President Calvin Coolidge with a 1924 Lincoln Model L. His successor, Herbert Hoover, was a Cadillac man, and he purchased his presidential 1930 Cadillac V16 after leaving office. Unlike eight-cylinder models, V16 Cadillacs were almost entirely custom-built.

The days of off-the-shelf cars for presidents ended after an assassination attempt was made on President Franklin Roosevelt while he rode in a convertible in Miami in 1933.

In response, the feds had FDR use Al Capone's 1928 armored Cadillac, which the government acquired after Capone's indictment on tax-evasion charges. Capone had the car fitted with boiler-plating and bulletproof glass and painted to resemble a Chicago police car.

But FDR preferred open cars and was frequently seen in a graceful Packard Twelve.

The government eventually turned to Lincoln to supply presidential vehicles, beginning a relationship that would last into the 1980s.

The company supplied FDR with a 1939 Lincoln, nicknamed the Sunshine Special. Built on a Lincoln Model K platform, the V12-powered car transported Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman in various places all over the world, including Yalta, Casablanca, Tehran and Malta.

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After the Sunshine Special was retired in 1950, the government obtained a fleet of Brunn-bodied Lincoln Cosmopolitan Limousines. The new Lincolns were thoroughly modern, boasting V8 power and an independent front suspension. President Dwight Eisenhower had a plastic bubbletop fitted on the limo after being rained on during an appearance in Richmond.

The car was used through 1967.

Perhaps the most famous presidential Lincoln is the 1961 Continental built for President John F. Kennedy. Modified by the Ohio-based coach builder Hess and Eisenhardt, it was the car Kennedy was riding in when he was assassinated in Dallas in 1963.

Despite its infamous history, the car was modified for security purposes and used by President Lyndon Johnson. A 1968 Lincoln Continental was ordered for President Richard Nixon, who took office in 1969. The 1968 Lincoln later was replaced by a 1972 model.

That car was long-lived, serving through the Reagan administration and witnessing assassination attempts on Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.

Cadillac rejoined the presidential fleet in 1984 with a pair of Fleetwood limousines. They were replaced in 1993 by another Cadillac Fleetwood.

Cadillac has remained the presidential car of choice ever since.

And while you can view Reagan's limousine at his presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif., don't expect to see Obama's Cadillac any time soon.

Upon retirement, all presidential cars are now destroyed by the Secret Service for security reasons.

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© 2009, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.).