With all the hype and excitement surrounding the upcoming US presidential election, perhaps it got you thinking – ‘what kind of car does the President of the United States of America drive?’
The blunt reality is they don’t drive anything. Each POTUS is carted around in a virtually indestructible official state car, equipped with rocket-propelled grenades, a tear gas cannon, bulletproof glass, eight-inch thick doors, and an airtight interior designed to withstand a chemical attack.
No serving president is allowed to drive – the Secret Service straight up forbids it – which means the only time any POTUS gets behind the wheel, it’s either a photo opportunity or a golf cart.
That doesn’t make for a very interesting feature but winding the clock back a bit further, what did presidents drive when they weren’t busy being one of the most powerful people in the world?
Barack Obama – Ford Escape Hybrid
You’d expect arguably the coolest President to occupy the Oval Office to have owned some equally cool rides in his time but lower your expectations, Obama’s taste in cars has been disappointingly lame.
His first car was his grandmother’s Ford Granada that “rattled and shook” and didn’t help his chances when it came to picking up girls (Obama’s words, not ours).
Things haven’t got much better since. Late in his term as state senator in 2004, he leased a grey 2005 Chrysler 300C, which failed to attract any bids when it was listed on eBay for a cool $1 million in 2012.
With presidential candidates’ vehicles facing plenty of scrutiny in the run-up to the 2008 election, he eventually traded the thirsty wagon for a much more economical Ford Escape Hybrid in 2007; a move which virtually doubled his combined fuel return from 18mpg to 30mpg. Baller.
Lyndon B.Johnson – Amphicar
From the coolest President to what has to be the coolest car on this list. What you are looking at is the ‘Amphicar’, a two-door cabriolet that can seamlessly switch from road-driving to sea-sailing.
Powered by a 1.15-litre 38.3bhp Triumph engine, it wasn’t particularly fast and it wasn’t much cop on the water, achieving top speed of 70mph on land and 7 knots on the water.
However, that didn’t matter to prankster Johnson, who would scream to guests at his Johnson City Ranch in Texas that the car’s brakes had failed and roll into a lake before casually sailing about. What a joker.
Harry S. Truman – Ford Super Deluxe
World War Two saw the production of new cars grind to an immediate and abrupt halt as car makers pumped their resources into helping with the war effort. However, once the war was won, the first car to roll off Ford’s reactivated assembly line was gifted to then-President Truman, who held office between 1945 and 1953.
The moonbeam gray 1946 Ford Super Deluxe Tudor Sedan was Ford’s most popular model that year.
Bill Clinton – Ford Mustang Convertible
The 42nd President of the United States claims that leaving behind his 1967 Mustang Convertible was the hardest part of moving into the White House.
Clinton picked up the clearwater aqua Mustang with white rag-top and white interior while serving as the Governor of Arkansas, and refurbed the 120bhp drop-top not long after taking ownership.
It now resides in Arkansas’ Museum of Automobiles, but before taking office, Clinton was frequently spotted cruising from Little Rock to Hot Springs. With the top down, obvs.
George W. Bush – Triumph TR4A
Clinton’s successor also drove a convertible – a 1966 Triumph TR4A – which was bought for him as a college graduation present by his dad and former President George H.W. Bush. As first cars go, they don’t get much cooler than this.
Ronald Reagan – Subaru BRAT
Relations between the US and Japan were still understandably frosty after the Hiroshima/Nagasaki atomic bomb incident during the closing stages of WW2.
So soon-to-be-president Reagan wisely kept quiet about his Subaru BRAT, which he kept at his California ranch. The station wagon-cum-pick-up was restored in 2009, and there are plenty of pictures of it here.
Sources:
www.articles.chicagotribune.com | http://content.usatoday.com/ | media.ford.com | http://www.trbimg.com/ | scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net |
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[…] Lyndon B.Johnson – the 36th President of the United States – owned one and would famously prank guests at his Johnson City Ranch in Texas by screaming that the car’s brakes had failed and roll into a lake before casually sailing about. […]
[…] Lyndon B.Johnson – the 36th President of the United States – owned one and would famously prank guests at his Johnson City Ranch in Texas by screaming that the car’s brakes had failed and roll into a lake before casually sailing about. […]
[…] Lyndon B.Johnson – the 36th President of the United States – owned one and would famously prank guests at his Johnson City Ranch in Texas by screaming that the car’s brakes had failed and roll into a lake before casually sailing about. […]