The United States presidential state car (nicknamed "the Beast", "Cadillac One", "First Car"; code named "Stagecoach") is the official state car of the president of the United States.
United States presidents embraced automotive technology in the early 20th-century with President William Howard Taft's purchase of four cars and the conversion of the White House stables into a garage. Presidents rode in stock, unmodified cars until President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration bought the Sunshine Special, the first presidential state car to be built to United States Secret Service standards. Until the assassination of John F. Kennedy, presidential state cars frequently allowed the president to ride uncovered and exposed to the public. President Kennedy's assassination began a progression of increasingly armored and sealed cars; the 2009–2018 state car had bulletproof glass and was hermetically sealed with its own environmental system. The current model of presidential state car is a unique Cadillac that debuted on September 24, 2018.
Decommissioned presidential state cars are dismantled and destroyed with the assistance of the Secret Service to prevent their secrets from being known to outside parties. Late 20th-century and 21st-century presidential motorcades have consisted of 24–45 vehicles other than the presidential state car, including vehicles for security, healthcare, the press, and route-clearing, among others.
History
The first serving president to ride in a car was President William McKinley, who briefly rode in a Stanley Motor Carriage Company steam car on July 13, 1901. According to the United States Secret Service, it was customary for them to follow the presidential horse-and-buggy on foot, but that with the popularization of the automobile, the Secret Service purchased a 1907 White Motor Company steam car to follow President Theodore Roosevelt's horse-drawn carriage. The president himself eschewed riding in the vehicle due to his "image as a rough-riding horseman".
William H. Taft
President William Howard Taft changed things at the White House, converting the stables there to a garage and purchasing a four-car fleet on a budget of : two "luxurious" Pierce-Arrow cars, a Baker Motor Vehicle electric car, and a 1911 White Motor Company steam car. President Taft became a fan of the steam car when he discovered he could conceal himself from press photographers with a "carefully timed burst of steam."
Woodrow Wilson
President Woodrow Wilson was such a fan of the three Pierce-Arrow cars purchased by his administration that he bought one of them from the government for when he left office in 1921. President Warren G. Harding was the first president to use a car to drive to his inauguration, and was the first qualified driver to be elected president. President Herbert Hoover had a Cadillac V-16.
Franklin Roosevelt
In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt bought a Ford V8 Phaeton coupe and had it equipped with hand controls in direct contravention of a Secret Service directive prohibiting sitting presidents from getting behind the wheel of a car.
In December 1939, President Roosevelt received a 1939 Lincoln Motor Company V12 convertible—the Sunshine Special. The Sunshine Special (so named because the top was frequently open) became the president's best-known automobile, the very first to be built to Secret Service specifications, and the first to be leased rather than bought. Built on the chassis of the Lincoln K-series, the Sunshine Special has a wheelbase, room for 10 passengers, rear doors hinged backwards, heavy-duty suspension, two side-mounted spare tires, and standing platforms attached to the exterior to accommodate Secret Service agents. The Sunshine Special underwent two sets of modifications. Firstly in 1941 the car's top was lowered out of aesthetic concerns. Then, in 1942, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the car underwent the addition of armor, bulletproof glass, "metal-clad flat-proof inner tubes, a radio transceiver, a siren, red warning lights, and a compartment for submachine guns." After the second set of modifications, the car weighed and was longer.