Presidential Limo Sports A New Look -
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago Tribune
Presidential ride sports a new look
'06 Cadillac DTS has featured spot in inauguration
By Jim Mateja
Tribune auto reporter
Published January 17, 2005
Next week brings the same president but a new limousine.
A 2006 Cadillac DTS will be sworn into service this week to chauffeur President Bush in his second inaugural parade.
While boasting that the front end of the presidential limo gives the public its first look at the design adopted for the consumer version of the new DTS sedan that comes out this fall, Cadillac offered few other specifics.
Cadillac said the presidential limo is longer, wider and taller than the regular DTS, but Cadillac won't say how long, how wide or how tall it is, citing orders by the Secret Service to keep that, well, secret.
Cadillac said it also can't say what the presidential limo cost to build, what engine powers it, how much it weighs or what mileage it obtains.
Sources, however, revealed that the presidential limo has a pair of cupholders in the back seat.
And while it comes with state-of-the-art protection and communication systems, it was learned the limo won't offer GM's OnStar emergency communication system that aids motorists by automatically unlocking the doors should the president or his driver exit before grabbing the keys.
Cadillac wouldn't say what the Secret Service would do if that happens.
The limo comes with a 10-disc CD player, but it will not offer XM satellite radio like most new General Motors vehicles do.
About all Cadillac could say is that the car seats up to six people, regardless of party affiliation, and comes with a foldaway desktop in the back seat for the president to use.
It also features rear seats that automatically adjust cushion support based on the position of the president, and it is decked out with the presidential seal in the center of the rear-seat back as well as on the interior and exterior of each rear door.
The regular '06 DTS, which succeeds the DeVille in the Cadillac lineup, will be introduced at the Chicago Auto Show next month in McCormick Place.
It reportedly comes with at least six cupholders but no rear desktop.
Cadillac has provided a variety of cars adapted for presidential limo service since 1918, when Woodrow Wilson was driven in a Cadillac Town Car.
Two 1938 Cadillac convertibles served Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S Truman; a 1953 Cadillac Eldorado for President Dwight D. Eisenhower; 1956 Cadillac convertibles for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson; a 1983 Cadillac Fleetwood for President Ronald Reagan; and a 1993 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham for President Bill Clinton.
The '06 DTS replaces a 2001 Cadillac DeVille President Bush had been using.
At least we know he's got cupholders. :roll:
