The 2017 Cadillac, named “The Beast,” will be replacing a fleet of roughly a dozen identical limos that have been used by President Barack Obama since 2009.
— Trump Gets Results (@TrumpResults) January 12, 2017
The limousine features the exterior appearance of the latest Escalade sedan, and will not be much larger than Obama’s 2009 Kodiak presidential limousines. It boasts seven seats, and the passenger compartment will feature the same conference-style seating of previous presidential limos. The rear passenger doors are positioned to the front of the rear quarter windows, to partially obscure the two back seats, AutoWeek reports.
The biggest upgrades will be updated communications equipment, and AutoWeek speculates that there may be a power-adjustable suspension to raise the ride height by a few inches when needed. They base their assumption on an incident when Obama’s limousine high-centered while leaving the US embassy in Dublin in 2011.
Presidents do not spend much time in their limousines, as the vehicles are generally used as armored transport between planes, helicopters, and buildings, and do not have the full mobile command center installed on other means of presidential transportation.
