How the Presidential Limo Works

The presidential limo is designed to protect the president from all possible dangers, so it has to be pretty tricked out. Find out which features make the president's limousine extra safe in this HowStuffWorks podcast.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Go behind the wheel and under the hood on everything
automotive with high speed stuff from how stuff works dot com.
Welcome to the podcast. Thanks for dropping in. I'm Ben
Bowling here with our extraordinary auto editor and world class
limousine expert, at least for today's podcast, Scott, Benjamin Scott,
what's going on with the presidential limousine? I've got a

(00:23):
bunch of questions for you about it, man, Okay, well
you need to just hit me with him, because there's
a lot going on with the limousine. The presidential limousine,
I think, is you know, usually the centerpiece of the
presidential motorcade. Right, Yeah, that's right. And I hear it's
a little bit different from your garden variety millionaires limousine,
if you can call it garden variety, that's right. Um, yeah,

(00:44):
it's got it definitely has some special features. I mean
we're talking James Bond type stuff. Really. One thing that
you know, I should say here before we even get
too far into this, is that you can't really say
exactly what's on the current limousine because no one really knows.
I mean, somebody knows, but we don't know. You know,
we're not going to be privilege to that information. We
don't have the security, that's right, we don't, but we

(01:04):
can we can talk about, you know, what what has
been used in past presidential limousines, and um, we can
kind of guess what this one does have. And they're
also you know, just standard type of things that you know,
we we know it has. But um our, our discussion
can't be complete, That's what I'm saying. Okay, that's fine.
I like the air of mystery here. I think that's

(01:24):
that's pretty cool. It's definitely it's definitely got a lot
of gadgets and uh and cool things about it. I mean,
there's just a lot of it is about protection, of course,
but you also remember that it has to be able
to get away in certain situations. So um, it has
to be kind of an unstoppable vehicle as much as possible.
It has to be resistant to any kind of attack
you can think of, and we can talk about that.

(01:45):
Also you know that you know what what it can withstand,
and what what they safeguard against or what we know
they safeguard against. There's even more than that, I'm sure.
Well let's very intriguing. Well let's get the uh, the
obvious stuff out of the way. That the kind of
stuff that any well, I won't call them garden variety
if you don't want want me to. So the kind
of stuff that the that the average what I guess

(02:07):
security people call them high value targets. And the President,
of course, is the epitome of a high value target.
So we can easily assume right that the President's limo
will have self inflating tires or a reinflating tires, some
kind of something like that. Yeah, they may maybe shred
proof for you know, they're able to withstand you know,

(02:27):
bullets and you know, anything that would be laid down
on the road to destroy those tires, extremes of temperature
and probably armor all around. I've even heard the tires
described as armor armored tires. I don't know how you
know accurate that description is, but you know they're able
to withstand you know, bullet punctures and you know, even
even if the tire itself was gone. I've heard that

(02:47):
the rims and I see, this is all I've heard
is we have to talk well, we have to talk
about we have to talk about everything like this. I've
heard about this, this is rumored to be this way.
So everything that we say is is that but um
or most of it. But yeah, even even rims of
the vehicles. So let's say that you know, the tire
material is gone, uh you know, um fire, let's say
fire melts him away or whatever. It should be able

(03:08):
to travel a significant distance at a significant speed on
the on these really you know, exceptionally wide steel rims
that it has. Um every it's really well thought out.
So what what do we know or what Let's let's
start with the solid stuff that we're pretty sure how
about that? Um? So what are some cool features? Say?
Of course armoring alright, um, it's rumored to be five

(03:29):
inch thick armoring around the entire vehicle. So not only
are you talking like you know, the door panels and
uh you know roof panels whatever. I mean, it's it's
it's solid all the way around. You're also talking about
the underside of the vehicle that's armored because they have
to be able to withstand. As terrible as this sounds, mine,
you know, if the car were to drive over an
anti tank mine or something like that, and then that's

(03:49):
happened in the past, where you know, the car ends
up you know, flying through the air from you know,
explosion below. There's also been some good outcomes that you know,
armored vehicles that are completely armored underneath have it these
types of minds, and you know, it'll throw the car
up through the air and you know land upside down whatever,
but everybody is bruised but safe. The probably one of
the most recognizable examples of that is the improvised explosive

(04:12):
devices used in Iraq. Yeah that's right. Yeah, that's that's
what you're you're watching for something like that. That's that's
at ground level that you can't really detect until it's
too late until Yeah, that's right. So, um, they've got
a bit of guard against that as well. Um. Of
course the windows bulletproof. Um, they're said to be thick
enough that they don't really it's kind of like clear armors.
What I've heard them described as they're they're thick enough

(04:33):
that the sunlight really doesn't penetrate them. And so they
said that. You know, one article that I've read has
mentioned that, um, the interior is artificially illuminated because of that,
because you know, they it's almost like it would be
it would be darkened. Yeah, that's right. But they're very
very thick. In fact, the doors are so thick that
that they have to have a some type of system
in place to open and close the door because they're

(04:53):
so heavy. It's like it's like opening and closing a
vault door. Um, they're extremely heavy doors. Yeah, I guess,
I guess it kind of is designed to be a
rolling vault and it's completely secure. Yeah, that's right. It
has to protect what's inside. That's that's its main purpose. Yeah. Okay, well,
well that's stuff that that all sounds reasonable. Is there
anything surprising? Well, it's got this is really cool. It's

(05:14):
got um it's rumored to have night vision. How does
that vision? Infra red night vision? And uh so, you know,
no headlight of course, it's got great headlights, but an
event that something happens those headlights, it's it's rumored to
have a night vision uh system installed as well. And
that's it. And that's the current one that's not even
you know, the new one that we haven't seen yet. Um. So,
you know, there's just a lot of really cool stuff

(05:34):
and it may or may not be four wheel drive,
we don't know. Trying to think of what else. Oh,
it's it's environmentally sealed so that you know, if there's
a chemical or you know, some type of a chemical attack,
you know that won't penetrate the vehicle. It's it's entirely sealed.
So it probably has some specialized ventilation system. Yeah, yeah,
that's right. It have to have something like that. Is
some type of self sustained system at least for a distance. Um,

(05:57):
it's not good forever, of course, aually, but a lot
that stuff comes down to just being able to get
away and clear yourself from the from the from the danger.
Part of that is that it's it's blastproof obviously with
with with the armor. Part of that is that it's
fireproof also. Um, so let's say that it's involved in
situation where there's a lot of fire. Now these are
terrible you're talking about. I mean, imagine having to worry

(06:19):
about your car being on fire and getting out of that.
So driving away from that, you know, to the safe distance,
so it for as long as possible. This vehicle is
also fire resistant. Um, you know, the fuel tank has
protected the engines protected the engine I'm sure is extremely
protected because you want that to continue to operate no
matter what You've got to be able to get out. Yeah,
they're they're incredible vehicles. They're awesome and they really are cool.

(06:39):
And the the engine could probably also be a liability,
so it needs to be doubly protected, correct, Yeah, I
mean it needs to be definitely guard I mean on
all fronts. I mean, and an engine is something that normally,
you know, is open in the front. You've got a
lot of air flow through it. Um, it's just a
lot of it has to be taken into consideration when
you're building a presidential limit. Now, Scott, I'm gonna reiterate
what you said before just so we can we should

(07:01):
be absolutely clear on this. Uh, it is virtually impossible
for anyone at this point to be sure what kind
of limousine is going to be driving to the inauguration
in January, right, And um, it's probably a good thing.
But it sounds like one thing we can do is
talk a little bit about oddities of past presidential limousines.

(07:22):
Is that right now? Sure? Yeah, we can talk about that. Now.
Everybody knows that, you know, Kennedy was in a was
in a convertible when assassination took place. That's no good
convertible is obviously that leaves the president wide open at
that point. But oddly enough that that limousine was used
several for several terms after that, that same style or
the same actual I believe it was the same limousine.

(07:43):
That's kind of creative. That's this trend of having a
new limousine for a new president is kind of unique.
It's it's relatively new for a long time that the
presidential limousine was used for several terms in a row.
So it was I guess it was a used car
for so I mean, a great use car. You don't
had all this cool stuff, but and it was, you know,

(08:05):
the best vehicle you could get. I would assume as
far as you know, safety goes. But yeah, I guess
that this is relatively new. So is it Is it
reasonable then to assume that one of the reasons people
have been one of the reasons administrations have been using
newer limos each time is just to keep up to
date with the increasing features. Correct. Yeah, there's always a
new threat. There's always something that's uh, you know, it's

(08:27):
always lurking out there, you know that you gotta worry about.
And that has changed dramatically over the last I didn't.
I don't even say ten, you know, fifteen years. Um,
it's just you've got to stay up to date on
the technology. You've got to stay one step ahead, and
that's what they're doing. I guess at this point we
should go and into the realm of the entirely speculative.
You want to you want to go there with me? Maybe?

(08:47):
Al Right, well let's let's try it out. Could we
make an educated guess which, again, to reiterate, will will totally,
We'll totally write this office speculation. Will not bet any
money on this. But what what is something that you
could see plausibly in the newer presidential limousines, the newer ones,
stuff that we haven't talked about yet. Yeah? Oh, man, boy,

(09:09):
I don't know. I'm stumped. Have you have you been
thinking about this? I've I've thought a little bit about it.
Please hit me with it, because I after reading this, honestly,
it's hard to determine anything that could go beyond that.
I mean, it seems like they've got it covered. But
I bet you there are something, So go ahead and
hit me with it. Okay. If they don't have it already,
I imagine there would have to be a lot of
upgrades and information technology and communication, you know, some sort

(09:34):
of I mean, I'm sure the ones out now already
have something like GPS, but but some sort of direct
link to larger information networks just to coordinate. You know,
the motorcade alone making a left turn down Pennsylvania Avenue
is probably incredibly complicated. So so I imagine a lot
of a lot of information based excuse me, excuse me,

(09:57):
a lot of a lot of information based in a
vations are going to make the difference between the new
limo and the old one. Well, I'm finded me to interrupt.
I'm positive that they're they're a kind of a rolling
control booth. I'm sure that there's somebody in their operating
you know, the President. I don't know what he's up
to in there at all, but I'm sure that that

(10:19):
that vehicle is definitely I guess well hooked up as
far as you know, being able to communicate with secret
service that's everywhere all around this vehicle at all times. Uh,
not just in the motorcade, not just um, you know,
surrounding it, but I mean long distances away, you know,
monitoring everything that goes on. It's it's it's very carefully watched.
And I'm sure that they have to. I mean, there's

(10:39):
got to be a way to communicate back and forth
with them, So imagine how secure that has to be.
I wonder if they have any any recreational stuff, you know,
t VO radio. Maybe they have a big flat screen
TV and the system that has pong or something really
cool that you know, like coll Eco vision or Atari
or something. Sure. Yeah, wait, you're a little bit dated.

(11:01):
I'll be honest with you, just a little bit. Did
say flat screen? Your mind's in the right place, man,
your heart is completely in the right place there. I think.
I think that would be an awesome presidential feature. And
then another thing that I would see is is very
necessary or definitely contingency plan, right, because these are built
in in terms of contingencies, would be some sort of

(11:22):
radioactive radiation shielding for radioactive materials. I would think, so yeah,
and that might may be part of the environmental ceiling
that is going on there. And I don't I'm I
just don't know. I mean, the materials they use for
the for the bulletproofing, it's I know, it's steel, it's
composite materials. It's a mix of things. It's not um,
it's not one material, it's several, several layers of material.

(11:44):
You know, one of those might be a you know,
maybe a lead shield or something like that. You just
can't say. Um, all of this adds considerably to the
heft of the car, the weight of the car. But
you know, if you're talking to your safety, well then
you make the engine a little bit bigger. I mean,
I'm sure that they make adjustments where they have to
to make it as safe as possible. And like I said,
they just have to be ever changing, ever adapting, and

(12:06):
they're they're fascinating cars. They really are. If you if
you get a chance to look look up any information
about them, look back at the history of you know,
where they've come from and where they are now. Unbelievable. Really,
you know, Scott, I'll be honest with you. I don't
want to end on a down note. I'm I'm a
little bit depressed though now here in this. I mean,
you know, I of course have no problem with with

(12:28):
any presidential figure. I'm glad they're doing the job instead
of me. But I just don't know if I could
be happy with the regular limousine at this point. Are
you are in the market for a limousine, you know,
not anymore? Not anymore, we can't have. If you can't
have you can't have that one, then you're not gonna
have one, right right? You know, I might just have
to run for office. But in the meantime, thank you

(12:49):
so much for breaking down the a little bit of
the mystery behind the presidential limousines and motorcades, and for
our listeners out there, thanks again for dropping in. If
you have any questions for us, please write to us
at podcast at how stuff works dot com. And if
you'd like to learn more about limousines, motorcades, or anything
auto related, please drop by our auto channel on how

(13:12):
stuff works dot com for more on this and thousands
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