Posted on 01/19/2005 5:57:14 AM PST by xp38
The Cadillac DTS limousine that George W. Bush will be riding in during the Presidential Inaugural Parade on Thursday will generate lots of publicity for the brand, but only a suggestion of what the production vehicle will be like.
Cadillac fans will have to wait a couple more weeks to see the production DTS and several months to buy one, but the inaugural limousine has similar design cues in the front and rear ends, grille, head and tail lamps.
The security and communications systems equipped in the car make it considerably longer, wider and taller than the production model. For security reasons, however, the U.S. Secret Service won't allow Cadillac to give any specifics.
Nevertheless, GM chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner says "General Motors and Cadillac are proud to write this latest chapter in American automotive history with the introduction of the DTS presidential limousine. We are pleased that our historic relationship with the U.S. government and chief executive office has continued through the years."
DTS will be the replacement for the Deville later this year, and it's been the subject of much speculation in automotive circles as the adventurous new look and attitude of Cadillac isn't seen to be an obvious fit with the classic Deville buyer.
Roughly speaking, the new Cadillac as exemplified by the STS sports sedan and the XLR roadster are international cars and the Deville appeals to traditional North American Cadillac buyers. Though the DTS will have the major styling cues of the brand, it's not clear yet how much more alike it will be CTS, STS and the rest.
The president's limousine is handcrafted, has a jet-black clearcoat finish and sits six comfortably. There is an executive package in the rear that features a concealed, foldaway desktop and all the seats have adjustable reclining features and adaptive seat system that adjusts cushions. The rear seat passengers also have their own sound system with 10-disc changer.
An embroidered presidential seal is positioned in the center of the rear seat back panel, as well as on each rear door trim panel. Presidential seals are also affixed to the exterior rear doors. The U.S. flag is placed on the right front fender, and the presidential standard is located on the left front fender when the president travels in the vehicle. Flush-mounted High Intensity Discharged (HID) spotlights illuminate the flags at night.
Teddy Roosevelt was the first president to ride in car, a Columbia Electric Victoria in 1902 and was the first president to own a car as well.
GM is keeping quiet about the 2006 DTS until the vehicle premiers at the Chicago auto show on February 9, at which time we'll provide full coverage.
A high school bud's father was a car dealer. He took in a used 1955 cobalt blue Cadillac limo that just wouldn't sell. My bud finally started driving it...and the six of us rode everywhere in glory. Those were the days when everyone chipped in 50 cents for gas, everytime you looked at it!
Thing looks like parts from 4 different cars glued together
Speaking of Led Zep song intros, Am I the only one who hears the intro to Dyer Maker everytime a gas pump at the station or quick-stop authorizes itself?
That's the 71 or 72, isn't it? I remember those when I lived in New York. They were really handsome. I've got a '92 Sedan de Ville.
After his retirement, my dad worked part time for the local Olds-Caddy dealership and one day, brought home a blue 56 Sedan DeVille with very low miles. It had the headlight dimmer, the Wonderbar radio, leather trim, etc. It would blow the doors off our neighbor's 62 Corvette.
I know it's not feasible anymore, but I do miss the "open limo" of years past. I remember when Pres Nixon came to our town in Mamaroneck...it was so much more exciting to see your president in an open car.
He always wants me to drive whenever we take a trip in his car. He's very much a Caddy loyalist, so to keep him happy I always remark how nice his car drives and rides whenever I drive it. Actually, I would rather drive my little Nissan Altima if the road is curvy, but of course his Caddy does ride much better on rough roads and it's power is impressive.
The bad part of going anywhere in his car is that my when we get home my wife is always dissatisfied with our little plebian Altima with it's cloth upholstery and manually adjusted seats. My retirement income level doesn't even come close to allowing me to own a late model Caddy, but even if it did I wouldn't be driving one unless there were no Lexus or Infinity available.
I once got a free upgrade to an an Infinity Q45 from a car rental agency and drove it on a fairly long road trip. Wow, what a car. Not only did it have every luxury feature imaginable it handled curves much better than any other big sedan I have ever driven, and the darn thing would pin me to the back of the seat whenever I punched the go pedal. I have not driven the big Lexus, but from what I have read it's at least the equal of the Q45.
No, I don't sell Nissan or Toyota products or own any of their stock, I just like the cars and the fact that they seem to run forever with very little maintenance cost.
My thoughts exactly...front end is fugly. Of course I'm not their target audience, so I doubt my opinion means much to them.
Gotta be more recent than that. Rectangular headlights didn't show up until '76 or '77.
Ooops. I think you're right. I took another look and spotted the round headlights inside the rectangular frame. My bad.
Me too...I recall from my youth seeing Queen Elizabeth II live in an open pale yellow Cadillac in the 1970s on a visit to Canada.
"...get rid of those damn ugly headlights."
Amen, brother! Reminds me of the '63-'67 Caddies with the ugly-ass stacked headlights. HIDEOUS!
Seriously...who designs lights like that and says "Yeah - now THIS looks good!" ???
UGH!!!
Oops... I think you're right. I took another look and noticed the round headlights inside the rectangular frame. My bad.
Exactly what Bill said
I think on this presidential limo version you can see where all the armor has made the body super bulky like around the windows and windshield, like someone wearing what would be a nice suit, but with 5 wool sweaters on underneath bulking it up out of proportion.
WHoever made the comment earlier about "the front looks like a Cavalier". I almost fell out of the chair laughing for some reason, that just struck me as funny. And I drive a Cavalier and this front end looks nothing like mine, but I can see it looks a bit like a late 80's Cavs.
This has the potential to be a not too bad car, but not what I would pick as my first choice.
Bones
Where can I git me one a them?
It's a truck in front and an old Lincoln in the rear.
Yep, it's goony looking.
For a long time it seemed Lincoln supplied the Presidential limos but now it seems Caddy has had the contract for a while. Do you think a current day Lincoln would have been better style wise?
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