The Secrets Behind Presidential Limos Over The Years

The job of President of the United States has a lot of superlatives attached to it: most high-profile, most powerful, most dangerous. The last qualifier is part of what makes presidential limousines so fascinating; no expense is spared when outfitting the Commander in Chief's car with innovative features, be they for safety or show. From Taft in 1909 to Trump in 2017, each president has had his own vehicular preferences, making for some truly unique automobiles. Gearheads and history buffs alike will be thrilled to learn the secrets behind the most important car in the country: the presidential limousine.

William Howard Taft's First Fleet

The invention of the automobile in the 1890s was met with much resistance from the White House. It wasn't until the following century that a sitting president traveled in one: William McKinley took a brief ride in a Stanley steam car in 1901. In 1907, the Secret Service purchased a steam car from White Motor Company, but President Theodore Roosevelt refused to ride in it, preferring the image he projected riding in a horse-drawn buggy. His successor, William Howard Taft, felt the opposite. He wanted to modernize the White House, converting the stables into a garage and purchasing four cars: a White steam car, a Baker electric car, and two Pierce-Arrows. They cost him a total of $12,000 - equivalent to over $300,000 today.

Franklin Roosevelt's Sunshine Special

In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt acquired one of the most famous presidential limos, called the Sunshine Special. Based on a Lincoln K-Series chassis, the Sunshine Special boasted a V-12 engine and a convertible top that the President kept down almost all the time (hence the car's nickname). After World War II began, security was a prime concern, so the Sunshine Special was sent off to be fitted with armor plating and bulletproof glass. While it was in the shop, the President used the only other armored car available: a fortified Cadillac formerly owned by gangster Al Capone that had been seized by the government following his arrest.

Harry Truman's Cosmopolitan Fleet

After asking General Motors to provide him with cars to use during his 1948 run for office - and being denied - President Harry S. Truman reportedly vowed never to do business with GM again. When it came time to replace the Sunshine Special, he stuck with the Lincoln brand, leasing ten Cosmopolitans for the White House in 1950. The cars were built with raised ceilings designed to accommodate wearers of tall hats. Truman selected one, a convertible, as his personal vehicle. Twenty feet long and weighing in at over three tons, Truman's Cosmopolitan would remain in use at the White House for many years after his departure.

Dwight Eisenhower's Confident Cars

The mid-1950s were a time of relative peace for the United States, but the country was still reeling from the effects of World War II and the Korean War. To combat this sense of cautious insecurity, President Dwight Eisenhower tried to project a sense of optimism and openness with his demeanor, his speeches and his choice of presidential limos. He had Truman's Cosmopolitan fitted with a transparent Plexiglas "bubble top" so he could be seen even with the canopy up. He also favored his Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton, with its open top and innovative styling that seemed almost futuristic for its time.

John F. Kennedy's Tragic X-100

Upon assuming the role of President in 1961, John F. Kennedy ordered a custom Lincoln Continental to use as his presidential limo. Given the code name "X-100", the car featured several modifications intended to continue Eisenhower's legacy of visibility. It featured three interchangeable canopies - one soft top, one metal top and one Plexiglas top - and an adjustable-height rear seat for the President to sit in. Although these features did increase the President's visibility, unfortunately, they did so to a fatal extent in 1963 as he was assassinated while riding in the X-100. Following Kennedy's death, the vehicle was fitted with armor and a fixed glass top. It was used by Presidents Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter before being retired in 1977.

Richard Nixon's Luxurious Lincoln

Though Nixon tried to relate to his voting base by emphasizing that he drove an Oldsmobile, upon taking office, he changed his tune. The 1967 Lincoln limousine he used instead was decked out in shag carpeting and boasted futuristic features, such as a radiotelephone and headset jacks scattered throughout (for use by the Secret Service). The rear of the limo was bulletproof, and the car could travel at 50 miles per hour even with all four tires flat, thanks to specially engineered wheels. It cost the White House a mere one dollar per year to lease this incredible machine from Ford.

The Car That Saved Two Presidents

In 1974, the next version of the presidential limo arrived at the White House. The 1972 Lincoln Continental tipped the scales at 13,000 pounds and measured twenty-two feet long. Fully armored and outfitted with bulletproof glass, the limo was impenetrable - and good thing, too because Gerald Ford was inside the vehicle in 1975 when Sara Jane Moore attempted to assassinate him. Six years later, in 1981, the limo shuttled Ronald Reagan to the hospital after he was shot by would-be assassin John Hinckley. The 1972 Continental was the last presidential limo to feature a roof opening; all vehicles since then have been fully enclosed.

Cadillac Ends the Lincoln Streak

For decades, the White House garage was filled with Lincolns, but this trend ended in 1984 when President Reagan chose the Cadillac Fleetwood as his new presidential limo. Few modifications were needed to length and height, thanks to the factory Fleetwood's impressive size. The armored limo had large rear windows for increased visibility - and a two-inch thick glass to protect the president from any further assassination attempts. An urban legend claims that the President's Fleetwood was used in the 1993 Clint Eastwood film In the Line of Fire. In fact, the car used in the movie was merely a replica of Reagan's limo, as the real car was unavailable due to security concerns.

George W. Bush's Cadillac "Deville"

Bill Clinton's presidential limousine was another Cadillac Fleetwood, but Cadillac ran into trouble at the turn of the century. The company didn't have a car that could meet all of the Secret Service's requirements. With the presidential fleet experiencing more frequent and severe mechanical issues due to the increased weight of the required armor, Cadillac decided to start from scratch. The new limo looked like a Deville but was actually built on a heavy-duty SUV chassis. Featuring rear massage seats, a ten-disc CD changer and a 14,000-pound curb weight, the President's new ride was given a very appropriate nickname: The Beast.

The New, Improved Beast

The inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009 brought with it a brand-new presidential limousine. Based on the GMC Topkick truck chassis, the second-generation Beast has been the subject of much speculation by car enthusiasts, as many of its specs have not been made public for security reasons. Educated guesses put its weight at around 15,000 pounds and its average fuel economy at approximately 3.7 miles per gallon. The Beast not just bulletproof with five-inch-thick glass, it's also resistant to grenades, land mines, roadside bombs, and chemical attacks. Also onboard: cell phone jammers and an independent oxygen supply to keep the President safe under even the direst of circumstances.

When a Limo's Service Days are Done

Many of the earlier presidential limousines are now available for public viewing in museums around the country. Limos used by FDR, Eisenhower and Nixon are on display at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles, while the X-100 dreamed up by Kennedy can be seen at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. More modern limousines are still guarded with great secrecy. At the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, visitors can gaze upon the exterior of the former President's Cadillac Fleetwood presidential limo, but not even museum staff may open the doors without the Secret Service present. And that's one of the lucky specimens - many others are simply destroyed with bullets and explosives by federal agents when their time runs out.