The United States presidential state car (nicknamed "the Beast", "Cadillac One", "First Car"; code named "Stagecoach") is the official state car of the president of the United States.
United States presidents embraced automotive technology in the early 20th century with President William Howard Taft's purchase of four cars and the conversion of the White House stables into a garage. Presidents rode in stock, unmodified cars until President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration bought the Sunshine Special, the first presidential state car to be built to United States Secret Service standards. Until the assassination of John F. Kennedy, presidential state cars frequently allowed the president to ride uncovered and exposed to the public. President Kennedy's assassination began a progression of increasingly armored and sealed cars; the 2009–2018 state car had bulletproof glass and was hermetically sealed with its own environmental system. Since 2018 the presidential state car has been a custom-built Cadillac.
Decommissioned presidential state cars are destroyed by the Secret Service for training and to protect their secrets. Late 20th-century and 21st-century presidential motorcades have consisted of 24–45 vehicles other than the presidential state car, including those for security, healthcare, the press, and route-clearing, among others.
The first president to ride in a car was President William McKinley, who briefly rode in a Stanley Motor Carriage Company steam car on July 13, 1901. According to the United States Secret Service, it was customary for them to follow the presidential horse-drawn carriage on foot. Iin 1907 they bought a White Motor Company Model G 30 hp steam car, supposedly so they could follow President Theodore Roosevelt's carriage. Seeking to protect his image as a "rough-riding horseman", Roosevelt usually avoided using it, but sometimes he did (see photograph).
William H. Taft
President William Howard Taft changed things at the White House, converting the stables there to a garage and purchasing a four-car fleet on a budget of : two "luxurious" Pierce-Arrow cars, a Baker Motor Vehicle electric car, and a 1911 White Motor Company steam car. President Taft became a fan of the steam car when he discovered he could conceal himself from press photographers with a "carefully timed burst of steam."
Woodrow Wilson
During part of his presidency, Woodrow Wilson and his Secret Service detail utilized 1918 model year Milburn Light Electrics as a presidential automobile.
President Woodrow Wilson was such a fan of the three Pierce-Arrow cars purchased by his administration that he bought one of them from the government for when he left office in 1921. President Warren G. Harding was the first president to use a car to drive to his inauguration, and was the first qualified driver to be elected president. President Herbert Hoover had a Cadillac V-16.
Franklin Roosevelt In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt bought a Ford V8 Phaeton coupe and had it equipped with hand controls in direct contravention of a Secret Service directive prohibiting sitting presidents from getting behind the wheel of a car.
In December 1939, President Roosevelt received a 1939 Lincoln Motor Company V12 convertible—the Sunshine Special. The Sunshine Special (so named because the top was frequently open) became the president's best-known automobile, the very first to be built to Secret Service specifications, and the first to be leased rather than bought. Built on the chassis of the Lincoln K series, the Sunshine Special has a wheelbase, room for 10 passengers, rear suicide doors, heavy-duty suspension, two side-mounted spare tires, and standing platforms attached to the exterior to accommodate Secret Service agents.
The Sunshine Special underwent two sets of modifications. In 1941 the car's top was lowered out of aesthetic concerns. In 1942, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the car underwent the addition of armor, bulletproof glass, "metal-clad flat-proof inner tubes, a radio transceiver, a siren, red warning lights, and a compartment for submachine guns." After the second set of modifications, the car weighed and was longer.
Truman/Eisenhower Lincoln Cosmopolitans
Legend has it that Harry S. Truman held a grudge against General Motors because they would not give him use of their cars during his run for the 1948 presidential election; and, so, in 1950 he chose Lincoln to make the presidential state car. The White House leased ten Lincoln Cosmopolitans. The cars were modified by coachbuilders Henney Motor Company and Hess and Eisenhardt to provide extra security features and extra headroom to accommodate the tall silk hats popular at the time, and were painted black. Nine of the automobiles had enclosed bodies, while the tenth was an armored convertible especially for President Truman. The tenth Cosmopolitan was long, wide, and weighed , heavier than a stock Cosmopolitan. All ten cars were outfitted with V8 engines "with heavy-duty automatic transmissions." In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower had the Cosmopolitan convertible fitted with a Plexiglas roof that became known as the "Bubble-top"; it remained in presidential service until 1965, and had approximately on the odometer .
Kennedy Lincoln Continental
President John F. Kennedy's 1961 Lincoln Continental was originally a stock car, built in Wixom, Michigan, and retailing for . The federal government leased it from the Ford Motor Company for annually, and then commissioned Hess and Eisenhardt to modify it for presidential use—with a pricetag of . The convertible was painted "Presidential Blue Metallic", with silver metal flakes embedded within it; it was given the Secret Service code names of SS-100-X and X-100. Work began on the custom car on March 3, 1961, after four years of planning and discussion between Ford, Hess and Eisenhardt, and the Secret Service.Martin, Mel. "Latest Presidential Car Is Most Versatile and Unique", Houston Post, June 19, 1961, Section 4, page 6. It was delivered to the White House on June 14, 1961, with 2,024 miles already on its odometer from thorough testing by the Secret Service.Griffin, Dick. "President's dream car costs $500 a year", Newark Star-Ledger, March 1, 1962, page 24.
The dark-blue car included a "heavy-duty heater and air conditioner, a pair of radiotelephones, a fire extinguisher, a first-aid kit, and a siren." The stock car was stretched to accommodate a foldable center row of forward-facing jump seats. The exterior featured retractable standing platforms and handles for Secret Service agents, and flashing red lights recessed into the bumper. Unique to the X-100 were three removable roofs (made of fabric, lightweight metal, and transparent plastic) and a hydraulic lift that could raise the rear cushion off the floor. Both of these feature sets were designed to make the president more visible to the public, but they also increased the president's vulnerability. Kennedy was assassinated while sitting in the limousine as it drove through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.
After the assassination, the "Death Car" (as named by the Associated Press), was rebuilt in an operation named "The Quick Fix". Hess and Eisenhardt, the Secret Service, the United States Army Materials and Mechanics Research Center, PPG Industries, and Ford engineers all collaborated to strip the limousine and make substantial improvements. In an effort to prevent "ghoulish collectors" from obtaining discarded car parts, they were destroyed. For an estimated cost of $500,000, the car was painted black; received improved telecommunications gear; its fuel tank was protected against explosion by a "porous foam matrix" that minimized spillage in the event of a puncture; and the passenger compartment was protected by of armor. The three removable roofs were replaced by a fixed glass enclosure that cost more than $125,000; the glass enclosure was made of 13 different pieces of bulletproof glass ranging in thickness from , and was then the largest piece of curved bulletproof glass ever made. Titanium armor was added to the body of the car, the standard windows were made bullet-resistant with sandwiched layers of glass and polycarbonate vinyl, and prototype aluminum run-flat tires were added. To compensate for the 25 percent increase in weight—to —the upgraded car received a hand-built V8 engine, providing 17 percent more power.
President Lyndon B. Johnson used the refurbished car for the first time on October 5, 1964, riding with Philippine president Diosdado Macapagal around Washington."Presidents Ride in Armored Car", Associated Press, via the Omaha World-Herald, October 5, 1964, front page. In the interim, Johnson had been borrowing one of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover's bulletproof Cadillacs for presidential travel.Wise, David. "LBJ Using Bulletproof Car On Loan from FBI Chief Hoover", Fargo Forum, April 16, 1964, front page.
In 1967, the car was modified again with an upgraded air conditioning system, an openable rear-door window, and structural enhancement to the rear deck. Despite successive presidential state cars being built and delivered to the White House, the X-100 continued to be occasionally used by Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter until it was retired from service in March 1977. At that time, the federal government donated the car to the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, Michigan, which also owned the previous presidential Lincolns as well as the chair in which Abraham Lincoln was sitting when he was assassinated at Ford's Theatre. Out of respect for the Kennedy family, the museum stated it would not display the car until Kennedy's children were both 21 or older.Ishoy, Ron. "JFK Limousine to Stay Under Wraps", Detroit Free Press, January 30, 1978, Section A, page 3. The car was kept in storage in a building next to the museum until October 24, 1981, when "The President's Car" exhibit opened to the public"Kennedy limo goes on display", Detroit Free Press, October 24, 1981, page 7A.Jones, Stephen. "Presidential limousines: sight or safety?", Jackson Citizen Patriot, October 25, 1981, page A-10. (one month before the 21st birthday of John F. Kennedy Jr., Kennedy's youngest surviving child). , it remains on display at the museum.
The license plates (DC plates, "GG-300") were removed from the X-100 when the vehicle was upgraded after the Kennedy shooting. When they were auctioned in 2015, they sold for .
1967 Lincoln Continental President Johnson preferred white convertibles, but "concerns for protocol and safety" had him receiving a black 1967 Lincoln Continental as his state car. The hardtop cost the Ford Motor Company about , which leased it to the federal government for an annual cost of . With of armor, "a bubble top thicker than the protective cockpit of an F-16 fighter", and a V8 engine, the car could still reach speeds of — or with four flat tires. According to White House spokespeople, President Johnson's car was not equipped with a television, though several of his cabinet members' were. This car also served Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Carter, and traveled to 32 nations before it was retired in the mid-to-late 1970s. In 1996, the Ford Motor Company restored the car to its original state and donated it to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in recognition of its use during several of his most-significant presidential trips.
1972 Lincoln Continental