July31
For the second time spy photographers spotted General Motors testing a vehicle for a very specific customer. It may very well be the strangest, most unique test car we’ve ever seen. That said, we’re pretty sure what you’re looking at is the next generation Cadillac Limousine to be used by the next President of the United States.
Photographed testing on public roads and highways, we think this behemoth might actually be more of a truck than a limo. With so much armor being added, it appears GM may have needed a medium-duty truck chassis like the Topkick platform. We observed the limo testing along with two regular Topkick trucks and the wheels and tires on the limo appeared to be the same size as the Topkick. The tires on the limo are Goodyear Regional RHS tires, though we couldn’t tell if they are 22.5 inch or 19.5 inch wheels.
As far as powertain, all we can say for sure is that a very large diesel was under the hood. The exhaust note coming from the back of the limo was quite similar to the medium-duty Topkick trucks.
Style wise, we can see bits and pieces from a few different Cadillac models. Xenon headlights from the Escalade adorn the front while the rear seems to have some STS parts. We can also see holders on the top of the front fenders where two small American flags would traditionally go. The doors on this limo are absolutely astounding. We’d guess they are at least 8 inches thick.
When this vehicle will debut is anyone’s guess, though we think January 20, 2009 may be a good possibility.
July 31st, 2008
July 21st, 2008
I can’t believe I’m about to say this… but does this version come with chrome 28″ dubs, metal-flake paint, and a $10,000 stereo system so “Hail to the Chief” can be played loud enough that all the Bloods and Crips can hear it coming a mile away?
We all know that the new Prez has got to roll through the ‘hoods of DC in style.
why can’t our president just drive in a merc limo like the rest of the world. This cadi is pretty damn ugly and boxy, i guess the presidents don’t have style now
Admittedly it would be a lot more appropriate to see W going down the street atop a M2 Bradley.
Because Zeeck it would be stupid to see the president if thr USA in a German limo.
FUGLY POS
The president has a Cadillac instead of a Merc because its an “American” Brand, Mercs are to low class for the W…..
^ “of the” ^
It’s nice to see that the U.S. Goverment is continuing the tradition of wasting tax payer dollars on uneeded things. The presidental limo was replaced during King George’s second term
I dunno Bigdawg… if I was Obama I wouldn’t want to ride around in W’s limo either.
pile
Yeah, Most or all of the presidential limos have been Cadillacs and Lincolns and since Lincolns are now POS’s that leaves Cadillac…
This is actually the new Cadillac badge variant of the Chevrolet Cruze.
Bill Clinton rode Monica and it was much cheaper for taxpayers and much better for economy. Unfortunately, video can be seen only in the presidential library.
A Cadillac? I was more expecting Bush’s presidential limo to be an M1A1
just have just given him an H2 Limo instead
*should
Just use an armored truck. Add pleather. Plenty of room on the side for the MOTD.
A more appropriate presidential vehicle would have been a hearse.
The current presidential limousine rides a modified truck platform. It’s just the styling that’s based on the DTS.
So it should come as no surprise that the mule for the new presidential limo looks to be on a truck platform.
hemiroadrunner made me laugh so much.
yea a hearse would be the ideal mode of transport for the current mother****er
“A more appropriate presidential vehicle would have been a hearse.” by HemiRR
OMGLOL!!!
If the limo is based on a truck platform. Why not just use a modified STS body?
escalade grille on a car? what will they think of next?
Is it me or is that rear door really effin thick?
^^^ it is 8″. 12″ reserved for royalty.
Nothing new here, just another ugly Blockillac. I bet GM has thousands of Hummer H2’s that’ll go unsold, they should just give W one of them to be karted around in. One for each state.
It can even be disposable. Use it for a press conference in , then when he’s flying home on his shiney jet, the car can be donated to the local youth. There must be a poor inner city kid looking for a ride that he can pimp out for his gang-bangin buddies.
McCain deserves his own new limo for when he is president. All presidents should get a new limo every term.
Instead of playing “Hail to the Chief” in this car, they should play that $H!TTY rap “song”, ” They see me rollin’, they hatin’ patrollin’ tyin’ to catch me ridin’ dirty. Tryin’ to catch me ridin dirty’, Tryin’ to catch me ridin dirty’, Tryin’ to catch me ridin dirty’….” God I hate that pos song.
thats a pretty intense vehicle
As much as I don’t like Mercedes and think their cars have substandard built quality, they are still better built and much more better looking than Cadillacs. Which bring me to the point, that to keep the US strive to be the best, he should be driven along in a Lexus. Then of course, Toyota might object….
…I SWEAR your the biggest group of idiots Iv ever known to write, your what I like to call ****ING IDIOTS, the United States President, drives an American made car, everyone knows that, so you dumb ****s who say lexus and Mercedes are dumb asses, and if you dont like our country then ****in LEAVE
hey jeibal02 if you have read the last lik 20 posts it also says how american cars are crap and how we should put W in a chevorlet aveo and watch him blow up, but here’s an idea… why not we just build a armored lexus and stick a cadillac badge on it.
What’s funny is that everyone assumes this is for Dubyah. This may even be Billary’s limo, whether they make it to office or not. The point is, we don’t really know who it’s for yet.
Looks like the ‘09 DTS to me. Hope it doesn’t “fail to proceed” like the last one did in Rome. The real thick doors indicate it’s either bulletproof or the cabin is pressurized for pax comfort. Whatever happened to the traditional Lincoln limos designed for presidential duty?
The whole thing is probably bullet and bomb/RPG proof. You never know these days what kind of weapons people can get their hands on. I heard about a drug bust in a small Canadian town where they found RPGs and AA missile launchers once. Anyways, looks nice and sturdy.
It looks like it has 18-wheeler tires on it.
yeah, GM’s anticipating this for Obama actually… For all the assassination attempts there will be on his ass if he wins the presidential election…
I’m guessing everyone posting that this thing is for “W” is probably not from the US.. since we all know W will be mercifully ousted in January.
mercifully ousted? his term is up in January like him or not. As always, ill make up my mind if i like it or not when its not in mule form. But its basically an armored car, what’s to like?
According to GM, they offer the best protection plan in the business- a vehicle nobody will want to steal in the first place!
You know, you’d think that would work, but the Saturn S-series is the most stolen vehicle in the U.S. Before you think I’m banging on it though, they’re very reliable and cheap vehicles to maintain.
You know though, there’s something cool looking about this vehicle. It’s probably that it’s just basically a huge looking vehicle, but it’s got serious presence.
It’s still between dumb and dumber.
when you see what so many countries have to carry there presidents or prime minsters around in this ends up being the most vulgar,fugly POS,
british PM has JAG xj
germans have either s-class,a8 or 7series
italians have the quattroporte
japs have lexus LS
most other countries have any of the above
and the french have the citroen c6
They should just use the 300C body, with such small windows it’d be a lot easier to armor..
A lot easier on the eyes, too!
FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT!!! PULL OUT THE ESCALADE LIMO!!! HAHAHA YEAAAAAAAAAA
stupid frogs
I’m sure “enemies of freedom” will love these “spy photos”!
Also, LLN should expect a take-down notice from the FBI or even better, a raid :p
HRR, if you hate the song so much, how come you know the lyrics so well?
Maybe because I’ve heard it a million times by every retarded white $H!Thead that thinks rap and hip hop is cool.
HemiRoadRunner, why dont you just kill yourself, nobody likes you. Oh yeah and Hemi’s suck.
The Obamster should love it.
Why dont they just transport the president around in a M1 A2 Abrams tank and get it over with.
That thing looks like it can take an RPG hit and keep going.
If McCain wins he should get a F-150 limo with 30 inch tires with mud on the side with a confedrate flag because that’s the official redneck ride.
will this have a 2.0 liter ecotech?
I read somewhere the last one was nearly 24,000#s empty.
Yes it can take several RPG hits, the tires are airless and Duramax diesel from Kodiak truck line.
Good. Obama will need it to protect him from all the racist Nazi scumbags that want him dead.
i agree 1c3d0g, sad but true.
I wonder if there will be a sharp drop at the pumps once the oil barons are out of the oval office.
LOL @ Whips.
I second 1c3dog and bolex.
And about the car- this thing is ****ing awful. Why can’t our country put out a product that we can be proud of?
I just recently saw the current Presidential Limo drive past and it looked like it had a thicker roof and a much squarer appearance. They were on the freeway going in the opposite direction and moving along at a good clip but I had a good view and time to get out of my car.
I’ll bet every cop loved having a wide open freeway to fly down at 100mph in front of the motorcade.
jonmiles (No. 57) wrote: … And about the car- this thing is ****ing awful. Why can’t our country put out a product that we can be proud of?
Huh? This is a not a Mary Kay Cadillac. This is not a rental to ferry a bunch of high school kids on prom night. This will be the official automobile for the President of the United States. It serves three purposes. 1. Provide ground transportation for the President. 2. Allows the President to work and to maintain communications while on travel. 3. To protect the life and limb of the President and the people with him while on travel.
The car that you see is still in development. When finished, it will be nicer looking. If it does its job and there is no doubt that it will, then I will certainly be proud of it. You can make you own decision.
foremost, its none of anyone’s business how thick the door is or where the hinge locks are. yes, the FBI should arrest the smarty pants who took the pictures, unless anyone thinks it ok to let the whole world know where the weak points are on the car. assuming taxpayers money was spent with the intention of protecting the President (whoever he is or will be), why go through with this sensationist trash. it defeats the purpose, no one’s life is better off knowing these details.
This will be cool when it’s painted and cleaned up, and I bet it will run like a scalded dog! I wonder if it’s got stablitrak and stuff… They should test it on the Nurburing! (bad spelling…) It’s probably quite and honor for a company to get to build this.
This purpose-built vehicle has as much in common with a Cadillac DTS as a NASCAR Sprint cup Monte Carlo, Camry, Charger or Fusion has with its street going counterpart.
being completely honest… I really think it looks good. Not sexy or anything, but it at least looks like some sort of designer was employed. Also, No… I don’t think limos should be based on trucks… but did you see what a monstrosity the current dts-based limo is? this thing looks intentionally built to support the reinforcement being included into it… I think it actually looks a bit like a caddy-does-rolls-phantom!
I think they ought to do a swb version with the new chevrolet LSA (cts-v, detuned zr1) motor and sell it as a limited-production cadillac! It doesn’t need to be a regular model, but I bet, removing the excess armor, or at least some of it, this shape could translate really well to a large luxury sedan for the very affluent, like at 150k-200k.
you just KNOW that LL cool J or other affluent americans would prefer a light-armor limited production cadillac with 550 hp rather than his maybach of the same spec, more fragile build, that costs 3-4 times as much!
easy profit GM! BUILD IT!