New "Cadillac One" Ready To Roll

Presidential Limo To Be Unveiled In Time For Obama Inauguration

(CBS)  When Barack Obama heads for the stand where he'll take the oath of office Tuesday, he'll do it in a brand spanking new limousine.

It's an ultra-tricked-out Caddy, dubbed "Cadillac One."

Finding out details about the special car hasn't been easy, but CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier has done some digging.

Details about the new limo have been closely guarded. It's been kept under wraps -- literally -- and will be until it's shown to the world sometime this week.

"It's a new look. It's a refreshing, kind of expressive, more vibrant new look," says Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell.

The outside will look different. But what else has changed from the last Caddy-in-Chief?

The folks at Cadillac and the Secret Service won't say much. All they tell Dozier is that the windows on the new car are bigger and the seats are made of hand-sewn leather.

"The technical aspects of the vehicle and its functions," notes Caldwell, "are things that are done very much in secret, and private, and they shall remain so. In fact, I can't even tell you some of the materials that have been used on previous presidential limos!"

The first presidential limousines actually came straight off the factory floor, with little or no modification, points out presidential limo historian Gregg D. Merksamer. "The only thing that would have made them different from a limousine that anybody else could buy is there would have been a presidential seal on the door," Merksamer says.

The Kennedy assassination changed all that, Dozier adds -- a moment of tragedy that transformed how presidents traveled for good.

"The president's car went from being a parade vehicle, an open car, to being a protective conveyance -- something that was armored," Merksamer observes.

Think "luxury tank," made to withstand any number of scenarios, Dozier suggests.

Auto experts say safety features include rocket-resistant armor, six-inch-thick glass and run-flat tires. The rest is anybody's best guess.

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To see the CBSNews.com Special Report: Inauguration '09," click here.

[lindh4]

"He got a custom Continental an a Elderado too..."

[likeitis5050]

Please keep this man safe....the world does not need another martyr....especially the first black president. He''s already achieved son-of-God status and he has done NOTHING but walk around black. He can do only that for the next 4 years and monuments are already being designed to mark all those non-achievements. Biggest ta da over nothing, to date, I''ve ever seen. I do believe the Kennedy''s have finally been dethroned...sad, sort of...at least JFK was a war hero before he was anything else. Obama? (crickets)

[andie52]

Obama has consistently identified himself as a black man.The rest is semantics; I think he does and can identify with both races so I don%u2019t understand the problem.

[mattie620]

I am not sure why I am surprised by the comments. A major issue is being made over the new presidential limousine. Each president gets a new limousine that includes the latest technological advances, along with the customizations to accommodate the president.

The media does not help in their presentation when this article reads %u201CIt''s an ultra-tricked-out Caddy, dubbed "Cadillac One." And Good Morning America referred to the vehicle as a %u201Cpimped out Caddy%u201D. What do you mean by tricked out or pimped out? Is that the same as customized?

Wake up America Hitler was not able to purify a race. We are all a mixed race the mount of the blood lines simply vary.
Obama is not getting anything that other presidents have not gotten and I certainly cannot see how he will be any worse than the last president if he does absolutely nothing for the next four years.

[enviro_wacko]

The whole Obama thing is a joke. The media wants to make Obama the first black president. He IS NOT black. His mother was 100% white.

Posted by mr02258 at 11:17 AM : Jan 14, 2009

Virtually all American blacks have some white ancestors, ignoramus. Republicans can''t help but continue to reveal their racists souls.

[enviro_wacko]

This is no surprise. Obama is part negro.

Posted by mr02258 at 10:49 AM : Jan 14, 2009

I''m sure that you must know the "negro" is just about as offensive to blacks as the other n-word. And if you don''t know, that''s just as problematic.

[bks59]

The whole Obama thing is a joke. The media wants to make Obama the first black president. He IS NOT black. His mother was 100% white.
and I believe Pres. Elec. Obama is a human being having ancestry that was not all from northern Europe, I stand corrected.

LOL.

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Posted by mr02258 at 11:17 AM : Jan 14, 2009

[enviro_wacko]

Posted by bks59 at 01:06 PM : Jan 14, 2009

Did you have a comment or don''t you know how to work all the buttons?

[sangradouro]

I''''m sure that you must know the "negro" is just about as offensive to blacks as the other n-word. And if you don''''t know, that''''s just as problematic.

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What about the United College Negro Fund?

[mytoosense]

Obama may be the last President to ride in an American made limo.

In the future, I see Toyota and Honda Police Cars and Mercedes Presidential Limos just like every other two bit nation on earth.

[mytoosense]

What about the United College Negro Fund?
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Posted by sangradouro

Who was the Republican nit-wit who said to the NAACP

"A mind is a terrible thing and you should not waste it".

Was that Dan Quayle?

I guess Dubya was not the first GOPer with a misfiring synapse problem.

[exaf74]

That car must be awesome! I would luv to get a ride in it.

[exaf74]

Obama may be the last President to ride in an American made limo.

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Posted by mytoosense at 10:01 AM : Jan 15, 2009

Aint that the truth!!! Too funny!