Cadillac Armored Vehicles - President Roosevelt

Brief History of Cadillac Armored Vehicles

Armored Automobiles were first made popular by Alphonse Gabriel “Al” Capone
(1899 - 1947), commonly nicknamed Scarface. The most secure luxury car he
could purchase had doors of simple sheet metal. Riding in his new vehicle
was like sitting in a tank. Al Capone had so many enemies that he had no
choice but to tack steel plates to his vehicle.

The car was seized by the U.S. Treasury Department. Al Capone’s Armored 1928 Cadillac was used by President Roosevelt after the Pearl Harbor Attack.

Our new President will have a new house to live in and a new plane to fly in, new to President Obama anyway. President Obama will also get a brand new car, custom made, with many bells and whistles.

The limo is a symbol of presidential power; its part of the mystique of the job. President Obama’s new car is the most sophisticated armored vehicle in the world.
When it was delivered, the secret service took a car apart, piece by piece, to check for “eaves dropping devices”. It was completely screened and swabbed, just to be make sure that the secret service knows exactly what is in the President Obama’s limo and that there is nothing unexpected in the car. From now and on, Cadillac One will never leave the sight of the secret service.

The secret service also nicknamed Obama’s limo “The Beast”. The service is trained for every kind of attack against the limo, including shoulder fired missiles. The vehicle is bulletproof and bomb-resistant, designed to handle every type of security threat imaginable. The Beast also includes state-of-the art communications equipment to ensure that the President never
drops a call.

The Beast has 8″ of armored steel pating running up and down inside of the
car and it has an air-system, so when the doors are closed it seals off cabin in case of any kind of chemical attack, it does not affect the passengers inside.

The Beast is so specialized that it requires a team of highly-trained mechanics who travel with the car around the world.

This limo is truly a rolling tank with the windows. The new presidential limo was built with smaller windows to make it less vulnerable and the body is built with tough composite materials. The door mechanism includes holes to lock it like a bank vault. The door weighs as much as a 757 aircraft door, sealing the inside of Cadillac One like a pressurized airliner.