Since President Obama's in town, lets talk about his ride - TheCadillac One

Barack Obama is the first American president that has visited Malaysia since Lyndon B Johnson eons ago (if I am not mistaken). I suppose it is quite right for me to write something about the Presidential State Car that he usually uses when visiting any place or country around the world.

The Presidential State Car is the official car of the President of the United States of America. The car is called the Limo One or the Cadillac One or even the Beast (by the US Secret Service). Note that it isn't called Ground Force One (ala Air Force One like the presidential aircraft) as that is reserved for a coach, or bus variant that the President uses.



So the Cadillac One,  the current limousine that we now have seen plying the roads around Kuala Lumpur for President Obama's three day visit, is based on a Chevrolet Kodiak truck but is badged as a Cadillac. A truck.

This is the truck that the Cadillac One is based on. Amazing isn't it?

The current Cadillac One (and there are many of it) entered service in 2009. General Motors who own the Cadillac brand state that is is based on the Cadillac DTS as well as many current Cadillac styling cues but it actually does not resemble any particular production vehicle. Whilst it looks like a Cadillac DTS luxury sedan and like previous Presidential limousines, this generation of the Limo One actually has the chassis and drive train of the Chevrolet Kodiak commercial truck. And it is huge. Really huge.

General Motors basically used a truck called the Kodiak and then uses Cadillac Escalade SUV headlights, side mirrors and door handles – the SUV sized items somehow trick our eyes into thinking that the Cadillac One is small. The tail of the car seems to use the taillights and reverse lights from the Cadillac STS sedan. Each Cadillac One is assumed to cost approximately US$300,000. This makes it a heck of an expensive truck in the first place.

From what I have read the Cadillac One specs are highly classified. But what was revealed from articles on numerous websites is that the car has a heck of a lot of stuff built into it. It makes the cars driven by a fictional secret agent look under equipped compared to it.

It is armoured to at least NATO level B7 the highest specification of ballistic protection of civillian passenger cars. I believe the Cadillac One could be higher. Level B7 allows is able to stop NATO 7.62mm rounds as well as those from a Russian AK47. It can withstand direct hits from a hand held Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG). A fully armoured B7 Mercedes S-class could weigh 4,000kg. I am betting this truck chassis Caddy easily weighs 500kg more with its spec and knowing how paranoid the Americans are in protecting their heads of state. The car is also sealed against bio-chemical attacks too as it has its own oxygen supply.

It has special loops replace the stock door handles; agents hold on to them when running alongside the car. Goodyear run-flat tires fit into extra-large wheel wells. A special night vision system in a secret location so that the car can drive even when it has its headlights blown out.

The car can seat seven people, including the President. The front seats two, and includes a console-mounted communications center. A glass partition divides the front from back. Three rear-facing seats are in the back, with cushions that are able to fold over the partition. The two rear seats are reserved for the president and another passenger; these seats have the ability to recline individually. A folding desk is between the two rear seats.

Storage compartments in the interior panels of the car contain communications equipment which is called the Limousine Control Package and is operated by the White House Communications Agency.This is the voice and data device that links the vehicle to the WHCA Roadrunner command vehicle at the rear of the

motorcade allowing command and control (or "C2") functions to be performed from the limo. The boot lid has five antennas because of this. Inside the boot, there is a blood bank of the President's blood type in case of emergency.

On domestic trips, vehicles carrying the president display the American and Presidential Standard flags, which are illuminated by directional flood lights mounted on the hood. When the President performs a state visit to a foreign country, the Presidential Standard is replaced by the foreign country's flag (like Malaysia, above).

The limousine is airlifted for domestic and international use primarily by a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III and it not carried on the President's Air Force One Boeing 747.

The vehicle fuel efficiency is a slobbering 29ltr/100 km or 9.6mpg (an M1 Abrams tank does 1mpg most of the time so this is still a reasonable figure) according to Wikipedia. Most of us complain if our car cannot get less than 10ltr/100km. Although nothing is stated about the fuel guzzling engine of the Cadillac One I believe it is powered by a General Motors Chevrolet truck engine based Vortec 8100 L18. This same engine is used in the Chevrolet Kodiak truck and should be used in the Cadillac One. This petrol engine is 8,100cc and with at least 550hp and over 900nm torque to pull a limousine with tank-like levels of armour. There could be variants with diesel power if the President travels to countries where petrol is hard to find. But I doubt it as it would be quite undignified if a President of the largest democracy in the world runs a diesel. But it already is based on a truck chassis. Who knows since everything is classified. Oh, it is supposedly  based on the 4x4 version of the truck. So this limo can really hustle in all types of road condition. 

Yup. The Q branch Aston Martin magnified by at least four times its size, in weight and in everything. Them Yankees sure know how to make things large.

Cadillac One filling up on petrol at the CALTEX station along Jln Tun Razak. Note how huge the car is compared to the SUV escort vehicles.

Images:from the internet, wikipedia and facebook sites.