2003 Cadillac Deville on 2040-cars

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Vintage photos: How presidential limos evolved from open convertibles to Biden's armored Cadillac

President Ronald Reagan waves from the back of his limousine in 1984.Ronald Reagan Library/Getty Images US presidents used to ride in unarmored convertibles with open roofs. After John F. Kennedy's assassination, presidential cars were customized with safety features. Today's presidential limousine is a 20,000-pound, $1.5 million Cadillac known as "The Beast." US presidents used to ride around in open convertibles. Today, President Joe Biden is driven in a 20,000-pound, $1.5 million armored Cadillac known as "The Beast." Take a look at how presidential limousines have changed through the years. Presidential cars replaced horses and carriages in the early 20th century. President William McKinley rides in an automobile in 1896.Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images President William McKinley, who served from 1897 to 1901, was the first US president to ride in a car, according to the National Archives. The administration of President Theodore Roosevelt, who succeeded McKinley after his 1901 assassination, was the first to include a government-owned car. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first president to ride in an armored vehicle — a limousine that previously belonged to gangster Al Capone. President Franklin D. Roosevelt rides in a car with bulletproof glass in 1942.Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images Roosevelt previously drove around in a 1936 Packard Touring Limousine. Then, in 1941, he upgraded to an automobile with bulletproof glass that the Treasury Department had seized from Capone in 1932, according to the US Secret Service. President Dwight Eisenhower's presidential limousine was a 1955 Chrysler Crown Imperial. President Dwight Eisenhower waves to cheering crowds in 1955.Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images The car featured a 250-horsepower V8 engine and a sunroof, according to the US Secret Service. President John F. Kennedy's assassination in the back of a 1961 Lincoln Continental changed presidential cars forever. President John F. Kennedy, and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy ride through Dallas in 1963. Minutes later, Kennedy was assassinated as his car passed through Dealey Plaza.Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images Kennedy's limousine included a hydraulic seat that could be raised 10.5 inches for a better view of the president, but no protective features. After Kennedy's assassination, presidential cars were customized to prioritize the safety of the commander-in-chief with thick layers of armor.

Why Cadillac needs a real truck in its lineup

Premium brands such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, and Cadillac sell vehicles that cover the spectrum from car to crossover to SUV. But trucks? They remain the last frontier when it comes to luxury brands. These days Chevy, GMC, Ford, and Ram sell cheap, bare-bones work trucks alongside loaded models that top $75,000. There is a reverse elitism that comes with this sales tactic. A brand gets to reflect a rugged working class lifestyle with the emblem up front, while what's behind it costs as much as a small house in middle America. But Americans who spend big money on cars and SUVs have always gradually tailed towards luxury nameplates over time. Everyone knows what an Escalade is, and thanks in large part to that image the Escalade is now the best-selling fullsize luxury SUV in the USA. Cadillac's flagship model, along with its midsize luxury crossover, the SRX, routinely outsell the competition from Audi, Mercedes, and BMW, not to mention Ford's Lincoln brand and most of the Japanese rivals. With trucks already dominating overall sales and headed into the pricing stratosphere, I believe it's time for Cadillac to consider a fullsize truck. And no, not a lipstick version that merely takes a Chevrolet Silverado pickup and throws in a few leather seats and some slight interior touches. That experiment already failed both for Cadillac (the Escalade EXT) and for Ford's Lincoln brand (Blackwood, Mark LT). Cadillac is an American brand that currently focuses a ridiculous amount of energy and resources trying to compete with European car offerings. The brand needs to create the Cadillac of trucks. Head honcho Johan de Nysschen has been blunt in his desire to "restore Cadillac to the pinnacle of global premium brands, not in sales but in aspirational brand character." This sounds well and wonderful. But the present problem in achieving this goal is that, on a global basis, Cadillac is a failed brand. Look at Europe, where Cadillac has sold so poorly in recent years that former Soviet manufacturer Lada managed more new registrations in 2014 by a factor of more than four to one. Cadillac is an American brand that currently focuses a ridiculous amount of energy and resources trying to compete with European car offerings. After more than 20 years of Cadillac models selling themselves as import killers, the only one with sustained success has been the CTS, and even that has been a marketplace loser for the last several years. The CTS-V?

Cadillac confirms CT8/CT9 flagship, ELR successor

Cadillac has certainly been a hot topic as of late, what with Johan de Nysschen now running the joint, moving its headquarters to New York, and overhauling the company's naming structure (only to later publicly defend all of these drastic decisions). Now, looking ahead, de Nysschen is already revealing some details about what's in store for the future, including a raft of new products that include a large, long-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz S-Class rival positioned above the recently announced CT6, along with a successor to the slow-selling ELR coupe.
In an interview with Reuters, de Nysschen says his company has "just signed off on" a new flagship tipped to be called CT8 or CT9. It will compete with the long-wheelbase versions of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7 Series, and should come to market by the end of this decade.
Among other news, the South African executive said a followup to the ELR plug-in hybrid is in development, though it may not be a two-door coupe like the current car. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since the ELR has garnered nothing but slow sales and poor reviews since its launch.