New pictures of Donald Trump’s new presidential limousine have surfaced online with Secret Service set to transport president in the luxury and most secured car this summer.
The brand new incarnation of the official limo dubbed ‘the Beast’, built especially for President Trump, is set to be unveiled in a matter of months.
The armored $1.5 million Cadillac – which comes complete with eight-inch thick doors, a bomb-proof exterior, and an oxygen supply in case of a chemical attack – has been handed over to the Secret Service for final tests.
It was meant to be ready for Trump’s inauguration last year, but the completion date was repeatedly pushed back until officials announced on Thursday it would be unveiled in ‘late summer’.
“We’ve completed our task and we’ve handed over the vehicle to the customer,” Cadillac President Johann de Nysschen told Fox News.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Secret Service added that “the program to build and deploy the next generation of Presidential limousines is on track and on schedule — both in terms of vendor production and internal Secret Service post production requirements.
The public can expect to see the new vehicles put into operational use late summer of this year.”
The vehicle’s details are a closely kept national security secret, but the existing model is reportedly more of an armored truck than a luxury sedan and protected against ballistic, explosive and chemical weapons attacks.
While obscured by the camouflage, the new one appears to have styling elements similar to Cadillac’s flagship CT6 sedan.
One feature it almost certainly won’t share with the CT6 is Cadillac’s semi-autonomous Super Cruise system, which allows for hands-free driving on highways.
Instead, it will always be driven by a highly trained agent skilled in defensive and evasive driving techniques.
Cadillac has built every presidential limousine since 1993 and didn’t face any known competition for this contract.
Its American luxury counterparts, Lincoln and Chrysler, each told Fox News that they declined to submit bids this time around, but de Nysschen considers his company’s role helping to chauffer the world’s most powerful man around the world an important association for the brand.
“It’s always been part of our heritage and tradition, we have transported presidents over time, and we hope to be able to do so in the future, as well.”
For the moment, President Trump has to make do with an earlier model of the Beast which was built for President Obama.
The Beast weighs eight tonnes and has eight-inch thick steel doors that weigh the same as those on a Boeing 757 – and are sealed to withstand biological and chemical attacks.
The front windscreen can withstand armour piercing bullets or a .44 magnum and the bodywork is military grade and five inches thick.
The reinforced undercarriage with withstand going over a roadside bomb and the fuel tank is explosive resistant.
Only the driver’s side window can open in case he needs to pay a toll – and in the boot are cases of the President’s blood for an emergency transfusion.
Among the other features are shotguns on board in case an attack breaks out, Kevlar tyres that run even if they are flat and an oxygen system in the trunk in case of a chemical attack.
A number of guns are hidden in the front grille of the vehicle which can be used to fire on an attacker.
The current state car is thought to weigh eight tons due to the huge amount of armor plating built into the frame.
Source; Fox News/Daily Mail
