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Yesterday, I learned most all outdated presidential limos are destroyed and so aren't present in any museum.

w-m 2y ago
Oh, really? I guess here goes my second presidential transportation museum fact of this thread then: you can visit a limousine used by Truman in the Little White House in Key West: https://fla-keys.com/news/article/10941/key-west-visitors-can-ride-in-trumans-presidential-limo-at-little-white-house/ https://fla-keys.com/news/article/10941/key-west-visitors-ca... To me it seemed just like any older car, not anything special. Didn’t realize they are destroying most of them.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 2y ago
  JFK’s limo is still being displayed https://www.grunge.com/827864/what-happened-to-the-car-jfk-was-assassinated-in/ https://www.grunge.com/827864/what-happened-to-the-car-jfk-w...
  - sparky_z 2y ago
    Wow, I had no idea that they just repaired it and kept using it as a presidential limo until 1977. That's wild!
buildsjets 2y ago
Not sure why you are being downvoted so severely, as what you say is plainly and verifiably true. JFK and Truman's old jalopies being in museums do not count. They were lightly modified production cars that were not much different than their mass produced counterparts. The Beast is a custom made tank with a Cadillac badge on it and weighs over 20,000 lbs. JFK got shot in some old convertible, which probably did not even have seatbelts. The security technology of those antiques is to The Beast, as the power of a TRS-80 is to a spanky new AMD Ryzen. BTW, they are not just destroyed. They are destroyed in a series of tests of the vehicle's countermeasures and protective devices against an array of potential weapon systems, boom boom kaboom. I got to see some components installed on the gun shock test rig at NTS in Fullerton CA, while I was there doing some unrelated vibration and shock testing on an aircraft system. Unfortunately I did not get to see the kaboom.
- bankcust08385 2y ago
  The earliest presidential limo was taken from the mob. Not sure what happened to the early ones. The last several generations were/are mostly custom vehicles designed by GM. Jay Leno had a whole mini documentary on the subject. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=thZX9zHwodk https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=thZX9zHwodk
sahaskatta 2y ago
I recently visited the Henry Ford Musuem in Dearborn. Several presidential limos were there: "The Henry Ford’s Presidential Vehicles exhibit traces the changing balance between a president’s need to be seen, and need to be safe. Included in this exhibit are the horse-drawn carriage used by Theodore Roosevelt and presidential parade cars that transported Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. The most prominent vehicle is the 1961 Lincoln Continental Presidential Limousine that John F. Kennedy was riding in when assassinated on November 22, 1963. The vehicle was rebuilt and used regularly by Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon." https://www.thehenryford.org/visit/henry-ford-museum/exhibits/presidential-vehicles/ https://www.thehenryford.org/visit/henry-ford-museum/exhibit...
sidewndr46 2y ago
There is one not even far from me: https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g55649-d218870-i41026758-George_Bush_Presidential_Library_and_Museum-College_Station_Texas.html https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g55649-d...
ryukoposting 2y ago
Modern ones are basically SCIFs with wheels and an engine, so I suppose that checks out. It makes me wonder what would have happened with the first Air Force One if not for a clerical error. I know older presidential limos are still around, but that's because they served more as a fashion accessory than as a security device.
- ziddoap 2y ago
  For those of us not in-the-know about national intelligence acronyms: SCIF = Sensitive compartmented information facility
- euroderf 2y ago
  > SCIFs with wheels and an engine Can the typical SCIF withstand RPGs and ATMs ? Asking for a friend.
Cthulhu_ 2y ago
Weird, why? Unless they have James Bond gadgets built in that they don't want the public to know about. But then, armored car companies will happily advertise their builtin pepper spray cloud dispensers.
- Reubachi 2y ago
  They're not so much "destroyed" as they're "endurance tested to EOL". It's a valuable opportunity to test the outgoing vehicles which are usually a previous iteration of new vehicles.

w-m 2y ago

Oh, really? I guess here goes my second presidential transportation museum fact of this thread then: you can visit a limousine used by Truman in the Little White House in Key West: https://fla-keys.com/news/article/10941/key-west-visitors-can-ride-in-trumans-presidential-limo-at-little-white-house/ https://fla-keys.com/news/article/10941/key-west-visitors-ca... To me it seemed just like any older car, not anything special. Didn’t realize they are destroying most of them.

0cf8612b2e1e 2y ago
JFK’s limo is still being displayed https://www.grunge.com/827864/what-happened-to-the-car-jfk-was-assassinated-in/ https://www.grunge.com/827864/what-happened-to-the-car-jfk-w...
- sparky_z 2y ago
  Wow, I had no idea that they just repaired it and kept using it as a presidential limo until 1977. That's wild!

buildsjets 2y ago

Not sure why you are being downvoted so severely, as what you say is plainly and verifiably true. JFK and Truman's old jalopies being in museums do not count. They were lightly modified production cars that were not much different than their mass produced counterparts. The Beast is a custom made tank with a Cadillac badge on it and weighs over 20,000 lbs. JFK got shot in some old convertible, which probably did not even have seatbelts. The security technology of those antiques is to The Beast, as the power of a TRS-80 is to a spanky new AMD Ryzen. BTW, they are not just destroyed. They are destroyed in a series of tests of the vehicle's countermeasures and protective devices against an array of potential weapon systems, boom boom kaboom. I got to see some components installed on the gun shock test rig at NTS in Fullerton CA, while I was there doing some unrelated vibration and shock testing on an aircraft system. Unfortunately I did not get to see the kaboom.

bankcust08385 2y ago
The earliest presidential limo was taken from the mob. Not sure what happened to the early ones. The last several generations were/are mostly custom vehicles designed by GM. Jay Leno had a whole mini documentary on the subject. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=thZX9zHwodk https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=thZX9zHwodk

sahaskatta 2y ago

I recently visited the Henry Ford Musuem in Dearborn. Several presidential limos were there: "The Henry Ford’s Presidential Vehicles exhibit traces the changing balance between a president’s need to be seen, and need to be safe. Included in this exhibit are the horse-drawn carriage used by Theodore Roosevelt and presidential parade cars that transported Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. The most prominent vehicle is the 1961 Lincoln Continental Presidential Limousine that John F. Kennedy was riding in when assassinated on November 22, 1963. The vehicle was rebuilt and used regularly by Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon." https://www.thehenryford.org/visit/henry-ford-museum/exhibits/presidential-vehicles/ https://www.thehenryford.org/visit/henry-ford-museum/exhibit...

sidewndr46 2y ago

There is one not even far from me: https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g55649-d218870-i41026758-George_Bush_Presidential_Library_and_Museum-College_Station_Texas.html https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g55649-d...

ryukoposting 2y ago

Modern ones are basically SCIFs with wheels and an engine, so I suppose that checks out. It makes me wonder what would have happened with the first Air Force One if not for a clerical error. I know older presidential limos are still around, but that's because they served more as a fashion accessory than as a security device.

ziddoap 2y ago
For those of us not in-the-know about national intelligence acronyms: SCIF = Sensitive compartmented information facility
euroderf 2y ago
> SCIFs with wheels and an engine Can the typical SCIF withstand RPGs and ATMs ? Asking for a friend.

Cthulhu_ 2y ago

Weird, why? Unless they have James Bond gadgets built in that they don't want the public to know about. But then, armored car companies will happily advertise their builtin pepper spray cloud dispensers.

Reubachi 2y ago
They're not so much "destroyed" as they're "endurance tested to EOL". It's a valuable opportunity to test the outgoing vehicles which are usually a previous iteration of new vehicles.