a new president has been inaugurated and
the time has come it's time for
america's leader to meet the beast but
this isn't a secret cryptid lurking in
the white house basement no it's the
sweetest ride on four wheels here's
everything you need to know about the
presidential car nicknamed the beast
number 20 the president used to write in
what there didn't always used to be a
presidential car in the early days of
the united states presidents rode around
in horse-drawn carriages like any other
important person william mckinley was
the first president to ride in a car and
william howard taft really liked them
and bought a four-car fleet presidents
continued to ride in open-air cars with
drivers until john f kennedy's shocking
assassination while riding in his
lincoln continental convertible turns
out that having presidents riding around
in standard vehicles could be a massive
security risk it was time for a car
worthy of the president number 19
there's more than one beast out there
the assassination of the president led
to massive changes for successor lyndon
johnson's 1967 lincoln continental while
presidential cars had existed since
franklin delano roosevelt's
administration this was the first to be
significantly upgraded with over 4 000
pounds of armor multiple cars would
follow over the next few decades each
one more loaded than the last the 1972
model added bulletproof glass and gun
racks for the secret service cadillac
fleetwoods and lincoln town cars would
follow but by 2001 cadillac was no
longer providing suitable cars so the
government commissioned custom cadillacs
from the company with two models serving
between 2001 and 2018. sounds like an
old presidential car would make a great
collector's item right number 18. the
car you'll never ride in all cars reach
the end of their life even with standard
use as anyone who's tried fruitlessly to
start their old beater nose this
includes custom presidential cars and
eventually all of these have gone to the
car graveyard but it's not off to the
junkyard for these cars they're
decommissioned dismantled and destroyed
by the secret service after a full
examination for any weak points they use
gunfire and explosive rounds to test the
vehicle's durability and learn all they
can to build the next one better and
tougher and that brings us to the beast
number 17 the current model building a
presidential car isn't an easy job and
work on the model that arrived in 2018
started in 2014 a whole president to go
general motors was given the contract to
build a new custom cadillac with a
whopping payment of over 15 million
dollars to design a dozen vehicles it
was designed behind closed doors and
when it was time to take it out for test
drives it was wrapped in multi-scale
camouflage to keep any nefarious agents
from getting too close a look at the
president's new ride and on september
24th 2018 it made its debut in new york
city and when it comes to special
features this car is loaded number 16
how does this thing open opening your
car can be tricky at the best of times
especially if you're running on a few
hours sleep to get that early morning
meeting but it's much trickier to open
the beast because something's missing
key holes a look at the vehicle will
give you no clear way to open it just
some handles that don't open if a random
person pulls at them so how does it open
well the only people who actually know
are the secret service who escort the
president in and out of the car and
we're pretty sure they're not telling
you how to get in and no access points
are easy with this car number 15. now
that's what i call thick the most
vulnerable place on many cars are the
windows with a piece of debris or a
stray deer easily causing damage that
range from a nasty crack to a dangerous
shower of glass but not the beasts with
its thick windows of bulletproof glass
how thick they're about five inches
thick almost as thick as a dollar bill
is long while most bulletproof glass
windows are designed to resist standard
arms fire the beast is designed to
endure a full-on military assault that
could come from enemies of the united
states and a little overkill is worth
the price but in case something goes
wrong the beast comes prepared number 14
safety first what if something does go
wrong the odds are good that the
president isn't going to be injured
while inside the beast but what if
they're wounded in an assassination
attempt and ushered to the car the few
minutes to get to the hospital can mean
life or death which is why the beast
doubles as a mobile ambulance two pints
of blood of the same type as the
president are stored in the car along
with an oxygen tank and the secret
service is trained to use both in the
event that it's needed to save the
president's life talk about a high
pressure day at the office but they're
not the only experts on hand if needed
number 13 mr fixit what's the worst
nightmare for every important trip
behind the wheel a sudden breakdown even
more so when you might be heading to an
important diplomatic summit but if the
president's ride springs a leak no need
to worry the beast is never far away
from its own personal mechanic because
the beast is a specially designed car
this isn't mel from mel's garage and
burgers this is a federal agent with
specialized equipment on hand at all
times just in case he needs to get the
car running in a hurry and he's one of
the few people who knows the car inside
and out but that seems like the beast
could get pretty cramped number 12 never
alone if the president likes his
personal space no worries his entire
security entourage plus a mechanic don't
have to fit in the beast while the
president will always have some people
with him there's a reason you'll never
see the beast alone the president
travels in a motorcade of 40 to 50
vehicles several of which are armored
and others filled with secret service
agents in a counter assault team should
they fall under attack while this is a
large group of cars there are plans for
the beast to split off from the rest of
the group if needed and the beast is
never without some specialized defenses
number 11 lights out there is one
vehicle that's always near the beast and
it might look like a standard chevrolet
suburban but it's anything but this car
drives in front of the presidential car
and features electronic countermeasures
designed to fend off any guided attacks
say some terrorists got into position
and fired a missile at the motorcade two
antennas on the roof of the suburban
send out a signal that jam anything
entering the area of the motorcade
rendering the guiding system blind and
making it harder to hit the target so
the beast's defenses aren't just
physical some are invisible but what if
everything goes sideways number 10 panic
if the beast is breached or the
motorcade has been taken out and the
president is under immediate threat
there's one last thing to do the
presidential car has a panic button in
it and when it's hit well that's
anyone's guess it's never been pressed
and no one is sure what would happen
when it actually is maybe it deploys
some unknown defenses or maybe it sends
out a signal to allow local law
enforcement to converge on the location
but most people including the president
are probably hoping we never have to
find out but it's not invincible number
nine whoops it was the previous model
but in 2011 the car called the beast had
an embarrassing breakdown it was on a
state trip to israel for president
barack obama and suddenly the car just
stopped working it stalled out on the
highway on the way to the airport and
the president had to settle for a
different car while a tow truck was
called to pull the beast off the highway
the culprit not a nefarious plot or
sabotage but the very valuable car had
been filled with the wrong type of gas
falling prey to a common malfunction so
what does the beast eat for fuel anyway
number eight the fuel of kings while the
official specs of the beast are closely
guarded most experts believe it runs on
a duramax diesel engine similar to one's
general motors uses and its heavy duty
pickup trucks so why diesel diesel
engines are believed to be more durable
than the competition and truckers swear
by them the fuel is also less volatile
which keeps the president safer in the
event of a crash or explosion and while
there are many types of fuel available
around the world diesel is readily
available and that's helpful when you're
a world traveler but as strong as it is
it's not right for every situation
number seven spreading out what happens
when the president needs a little more
space maybe he's conducting tense
negotiations on the go or the beast is
in for repairs that's where ground force
one comes in if you've ever seen some
massive black buses speeding down the
highway followed by a fleet of armored
cars you might be seeing the president's
personal backup transportation first
introduced in 2011 to replace the secret
service's usual rented buses these
massive vehicles feature many of the
trappings of the beast flashing lights
on the front and back and cost over a
million dollars each but don't expect
the beast to go out of service too often
number six protected everywhere what's
the most vulnerable point on every car
easy answer the tires all it takes is a
nail in the tire and suddenly your
entire day is derailed but that's a lot
less important than what happens when
the president's car tires get taken out
maybe by nefarious agents hoping to
strand him and leave him a sitting duck
that's why the beast's tires are coated
in kevlar giving them an extra boost of
endurance and preventing them from going
flat in case something causes damage how
much punishment can these tires take
let's hope we never find out but it's
not the only place that has some extra
protection number five explosion proof
the tires may be the most vulnerable
part of the car but the most dangerous
part for a breach is the engine where a
devastating explosion could start but
that's not a concern for the beast
thanks to the engine being lined with a
special foam that will smother any fire
if the fuel ignites from a malfunction
or attack but this isn't a new invention
of the secret services they got the idea
from one of the places where car
explosions are the biggest threat nascar
thanks race car drivers the government
salutes you but what could the beast do
if it actually found itself in trouble
number four built for speed surprisingly
the beast is not a speed machine this is
not a vehicle designed to duplicate
nascar speeds no matter how tense the
situation it probably doesn't help that
it's more than twice the weight of a
standard vehicle but that doesn't mean
it's not fast the car is designed to go
over a hundred miles an hour at top
speed similar to much lighter cars and
more than enough for most chases or
emergencies but its best asset might be
its durability even with four flat tires
it's still designed to maintain a 50
miles per hour pace but what is it
actually like to ride in the beast
number three surprisingly spacious the
beast is loaded with gear so you might
think it gets pretty cramped in the back
but while it looks like a sedan the
interior is actually more like an suv
the vehicle can hold seven people in
total comfortably two up front and five
in the back that means the president can
usually bring four people into the car
with him enough for a policy discussion
or an on-the-go diplomatic summit of
course some of those extra seats are
usually taken up by secret service
agents but there's room for guests
including once jerry seinfeld who hosted
an episode of his web series from the
car but who sits up front is a lot more
set in stone number two the man in the
passenger seat the president is safely
in the back but the driver's compartment
fits two people and the passenger seat
is always reserved for the white house
chief security officer the official
rarely leaves the president's side and
that continues in the beast not only is
the chief security officer close to his
charge but his front seat position in
the beast means he sees exactly what's
coming up ahead and can give the
president a few seconds extra warning in
case he needs to take shelter which
raises one question who the heck gets to
drive the thing number one the man in
the driver's seat is there any position
that requires more trust than the driver
of the president's car you're being put
in charge of one of the most expensive
pieces of equipment owned by the
executive branch not to mention the
president's safety it's not a surprise
that the only people allowed to drive
are secret service members usually ones
with military background and then it's
on to driver school but this one isn't
going to teach you to parallel park a
prospective driver will learn how to
pull off tricky evasive driving
techniques including the notorious j
turn where a car makes a 180 degree turn
and shifts from reverse to drive all
without stopping the driver of the beast
is just like the car the best of the
best for more on presidential security
check out the insane protection of the
president of the united states or watch
this video instead