After an impressive 8-year long contracted tenure serving for the Commander in Chief, Cadillac’s affectionately named “Beast” presidential limousine will be hanging up its armor plating, and being whisked away into the pages of history with the introduction of a new president come 2017.
General Motors has held the exclusive privilege to manufacturing the President’s personal fortress on wheels for some 30 years now, yet the Department of Homeland Security is once again offering the production rights to any company meeting the stringent criteria and deemed the best value to the government. Mind you, that; as is the same requirements for becoming the leader of the free world, such a tank with wheels must be of American birth, and have the vehicles company HQ and development (residence) somewhere in the United States.
Unlike Presidential transports of yore, recent vehicles have not been based of a pre-existing platform, but rather from the ground-up as an impenetrable cocoon for the President and his most-important of foreign dignitaries. Of course, no specifics have been given on the procedures of making “The Beast” but some rumors suggest armor nearly 5 inches thick, bulletproof everything, and a fully sealed cabin capable of warding of chemical threats if necessary. Such irreplaceable safety equates to an unofficial curb weight of a monumental 10,000 lbs.
Though a tried and true American-made brute in a suit would seem to make sense due to its impressive reliability and undeniable level of ‘American-ness’, in keeping with the U.S government’s “green agenda,” alternative propulsion sources such as hybrid-power and CNG are also under consideration.
Final selections for the United States government contract are scheduled to take place August 29 of this year, with development continuing on from there. Mums on just who is in the running, but we’re hoping, and expecting, that Cadillac has its name in the hat.
When an official producer is chosen, manufacturing will begin in a four step process, specifying parts from the most minute chassis details to the heart of the behemoth, with the first ride to be given to America’s 45th president at the beginning of their four-year term come January 2017.
Comments
IMHO I find it kind of unwise for the government to chose any manufacturer other than GM at this point and for any brand to put its badge on the vehicle other than Cadillac. But of course I could just be biased and want Cadillac’s badge to be on the next generation of the beast just so the new lts(rumored to be released that very same year) gain extra attention that year
“Bidding Open For Next Presidential Limo, Will Cadillac Win It Again?”
Well who else is going to rise to the challenge? This is about a car for prominent head of state, and even if the car costs more than its worth during production, the image and presence of the car will be a strong statement to the world that will transcend the reach of any normal TV or mobile advertisement.
It’s not just promoting a car; whoever wins the contract is promoting the country behind it.
Speaking of the country, the bid stipulates that the winner’s HQ must be in the ‘States’. From where I’m sitting, that means that we’re looking at potentially 4 possible bids; one from GM, Ford, Fiat-Chrysler, and Tesla.
I’ve heard that Fiat-Chrysler may be excluded from the bid as they have too many interests tied in Italy. If there is any info leak about the next presidential limousine, the SS would rather that leak spill into the US rather than into a foreign nation, even if they are friendly. A highly modified 300 could work, if the platform itself wasn’t cobeled together with bits from a 15 year old Mercedes E-class.
Tesla, although a long-shot, would love the press and would give them more clout as a luxury automaker. I don’t how the SS would deal an EV powertrain, although in the future Tesla might have a battery that would let them take on a presidential limousine bid.
Ford, well, maybe they can modify a F-650 to look like an MKS; it’s already more interesting than the MKS is. Better luck next time. 😉
That leaves Cadillac; pretty much the best candidate for the job and what I’m putting my money on. I expect the finished product to crib it’s appearance from the forthcoming LTS, which should be due to arrive by the time the limousine is ready.
Cadillac period!
I don’t think Tesla will be interested. It is good PR and all, but it would take a lot of cost as well to build a platform for a Limo. On top of that since Tesla is demand capped and not supply capped the PR wouldn’t really make a difference. The cost to benefit ratio just isn’t there. They will be too busy building the Gen 3 Model E and Model Y then building this project.
Will Fiat-Chrysler even be eligible?
The only ones left is Ford and GM. And I can come up with a case scenario for both:
– Ford might get the win due to all the publicized GM bankruptcy. Sure Ford still owes the 5.9 billion ATVM loan but nobody remembers that, everyone remembers GM.
– GM might get the win if their new limo is like the volt and has a hybrid battery.
I meant Tesla as an left field possibility. The meet the criteria of being a automaker based in the US, but I’d say there something less than a 10% likelihood of them pursing the bid.
I image they would love to do it if they had the resources (a capible battery and engineers not tied down to the Model X and Bluestar projects). But in reality this presidential limousine bid is really a 2 horse race; whereas GM has an actual horse, and Ford has a sawhorse.
*supply capped, not demand capped
GM and Ford were the original manufacturers. Ford dropped their large Continental limousines, but maybe a special SUV version could qualify. I doubt Tesla Motors may qualify, since their batteries are under the floor, and there have been a few fires when the Model S hits a road obstacle and punctures the battery tray. If they have to beef up a vehicle, the weight will be too much for any electric power train.
GM may continue with the Cadillac, but should add an electric powertrain as a backup if the gas engine fails. So the next “Beast” can be a hybrid or Voltec powered.
If having a few fires disqualifies you, then every manufacturer would be disqualified. The limo built for the president is ARMORED to the tooth anyways and weights 10,000lb. The weight of the battery would be insignificant.
But as I mentioned above. Tesla has no reason to do it.
There is a great criteria that has to be met on these cars and I do not see the Tesla being able to meet the performance and ballistic needs with the driveline they have now.
Lets face it the present car has a truck platform under it and an engine with undisclosed performance upgrades to it.
Tesla could not get enough batteries in the car to cope with the armor plating alone. Lord knows the gas and couple Diesels are reworked to deal with it now.