Bush's limo a clue to new Cadillac

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.

Just a little correction:

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.

Roosevelt was not the first President to ride in an automobile. William McKinley was, and he did it at least twice as President, once in Washington, and once in Ohio, in 1899-1900. Roosevelt did take a ride in a Columbia during a parade in 1902. Not until May of 1905 did he use an automobile in Washington, and only briefly. He rarely used automobiles after that, especially not in Washington. His dislike for the technology was known by Americans and accepted as normal.

The First President to officially purchase an automobile was William Howard Taft. Taft loved cars and hated demagoguery, which was behind Roosevelt's avoidance of automobiles. Roosevelt did not want to be associated with what were considered "rich men's toys." Even after Roosevelt bought a car for his home in Long Island, in 1910, he disliked the technology. He could never see its importance, and he loathed its associations with industrialism and social change.

Taft negotiated with Congress to purchase two White House autos to be available the day of his inauguration. His very public endorsement of the technology, by example and in his rhetoric, led to an explosion in automobile use and purchase. Not even Henry Ford, who had the best selling car since 1906 (Model N, then the T in 1909), could keep up with the growth of the industry as a whole, which more than doubled in 1909. That is to say, the growth in the industry cannot be explained by the Model T. It was Taft's forceful promotion of the automobile that brought the nation to it.

I put a web slide show on this from a paper I gave last year that tells the story of the politics of the early motor age:

Early Automobiles & Airplanes: The Cultural Lag

For a couple anecdotes about Taft and his cars, see:

The Taft Pages: Autos

Taft's White House Autos (1909)

The reason I fight to tell this story is not just because, as my father tells me, the world is less imperfect when an untruth is corrected. I want people to understand the dangers of populist, demagogic politics. The anti-automobile rhetoric and example of Teddy Roosevelt hurt America and greatly delayed the coming of one of the greatest advances in human history. Yes, the automobile did come to America. No, it was not because of Henry Ford. The way the automobile came to America was defined more than any others by Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft.

I fell into this study while writing a book on the history of the limousine. I got to wondering why this fat dumb guy Taft used autos and the supposedly modernist Roosevelt did not. When I took a closer look, a whole new world fell upon me.

Nicollo unmasked: Bromleyisms here

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