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What will the next Presidential limo look like?

With recent news that the Secret Service has begun soliciting proposals for a new armored limousine, we've been wondering what the next presidential limo might look like. The current machine, nicknamed "The Beast", has a design based on a car that's no longer sold: the Cadillac DTS. If General Motors gets the job again, which wouldn't be a surprise considering the government still owns a chunk of the company, the next limo's shape would likely resemble the new XTS (below, left). But Cadillac hasn't always been the go-to car company for presidential whips.
Lincoln has actually provided far more presidential limousines throughout history than Cadillac. In fact, the first car modified for Commander-in-Chief-carrying duty was a 1939 Lincoln K-Series called "Sunshine Special" used by Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the last Lincoln used by a president was a 1989 Town Car ordered for George H.W. Bush. If President Obama wanted a Lincoln today, it would likely be an amalgam of the MKS sedan and MKT crossover, as illustrated above.
And what about Chrysler? The only record we could find of a President favoring the Pentastar is Nixon, who reportedly ordered two limos from the company during his administration in the '70s, and then another one, known today as the "K-Car limo," in the '80s after he left office. Obama, however, has a personal - if modest - connection to Chryslers, having owned a 300 himself before he took office. A 300-based Beast (above, right) would certainly earn the U.S. some style points.

Texas sues GM, saying it tricked customers into sharing driving data sold to insurers

Texas filed a lawsuit Tuesday against GM over years of alleged abuse of customers' data and trust. New car owners were presented with a "confusing and highly misleading" process that was implied to be for their safety, but "was no more than a deceptively designed sales flow" that surrendered their data for GM to sell. The suit contends that at no point was selling driving data ever even suggested as a possibility, putting GM in violation of the state's consumer protection laws. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking a jury trial and at least $10,000 per offense (every GM car sold in the state since 2015) and a hefty add-on of $250,000 in cases where the victim was over 65. Texas seems to be flying high after a recent $1.4 billion settlement from Meta over other privacy concerns. This may well be a way to solve any pending budgetary issues in the Lone Star State.

Reservations for Cadillac CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwing models to open in February

Cadillac will unveil its high-performance CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing sedans on Feb. 1 and will accept reservations for the cars the same day. Only 250 examples of each car will be built for 2022, and immediately after the reveal, customers can secure one of these Caddies with a $1,000 deposit, which is refundable. Deliveries are set to begin in mid-summer. As a special enticement, those first 250 cars will get a numbered plaque on the steering wheel, which indicates the model, transmission, and build sequence. Note that the plaque comes only on cars equipped with the high-performance steering wheel, which based on the teaser image below appears to have carbon fiber accents. It's standard on the CT5-V Blackwing and included on mid-level and higher versions of the CT4-V Blackwing. We already know that the CT5-V Blackwing will be available with carbon fiber seatbacks. More exciting news is that Cadillac will buck the prevailing trend and offer a six-speed manual transmission as standard equipment in both cars. A 10-speed automatic also will be available. It's not yet known what engine will power the sedans, although it's not expected to be the eponymous 550-hp Blackwing V8 that had an abbreviated run in the just-discontinued CT6-V. Cadillac has also announced that Blackwing buyers can avail themselves of a 2-day high-performance driving school experience at Cadillac's V-Series Academy at the Spring Mountain Motor Resort in Pahrump, Nevada. They're on their own as far as getting there, however. The unveiling of the two new Blackwings on Feb. 1 will take place at the brand's main website as well as its Twitter page. Related Video: