Broken Secrets

The President’s Limo Carries a Supply of the President’s Blood

April 18, 2011 at 2:00 am Chad Upton 2 comments

By Chad Upton | Editor

My car is well equipped for typical roadside issues. I’ve got jumper cables, a flashlight, gloves, tools, snacks and a space pen for writing notes on Earth’s coldest days.

The space pen is probably extreme, but that’s nothing compared to the US President’s limo.

It’s officially known as “The Presidential State Car” and unofficially known as “Cadillac One”, a reference to the naming convention of presidential aircraft like Airforce One. It’s a custom built vehicle, based on a heavy duty truck chassis, which can carry a lot of weight, much of which comes from heavy armor to protect the occupants from gunfire and explosives.

The passenger compartment is hermetically sealed to protect against chemical attacks and includes its own oxygen supply and fire fighting system. There are two driver vision enhancement systems that allow the driver to see in complete darkness and see through thick smoke.

The doors do not open by simply pulling on the doorhandles, apparently only the secret service knows exactly how to unlatch the doors. None of the windows roll down, except for the driver’s, which drops just enough to pass a big mac through.

With its top speed of 60 mph (96.5 km/h), it’s not going to win any car races, but that’s not bad considering the estimated 15,000 lbs this tank weighs. That’s part of the reason it has heavy duty truck tires that are re-enforced with bulletproof kevlar.

There is a full communications and command center on board, along with multiple weapons. In the event that the president gets badly wounded, there is even a backup supply of his own blood on board.

I assume it has a space pen too.

Broken Secrets

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Sources: Wikipedia, Popular Mechanics, Jalopnik, Telegraph

Photo: Wikimedia (cc)

Entry filed under: Automotive. Tags: cadillac one, limo, president, state car, towncar, united states, us.