Cutaway of Obama's New Ride

[Are_grits_groceries]

http://www.reddit.com/domain/cache.gawker.com

Some serious wheels there!!

[tammywammy]

1. Very interesting n/t

[Joe the Liberal]

2. Wow thats one hell of a car. nt

[mucifer]

3. It's like the batmobile with presidential blood on board. (That was the weirdest part.)

[Posteritatis]

10. That's been normal practice for awhile

In presidential or cabinet-level motorcades there's a few units of the principal's blood either in the vehicle or in an attending vehicle just in case it's necessary. Rice and Bush each went through my town on seperate occasions, and that was one of the things mentioned about their motorcades. I'm pretty sure it was the same with Clinton, too.

[yodoobo]

4. LOL!

"The only window that opens -by just three inches - so the driver can pay a toll or.."

I really can't imagine a motorcade lining up to throw a quarter in the bucket.

[baldguy]

5. That got me too.

Imagine the SS driver digging through the cushions for change. Like they never heard of Speed Pass?

[TahitiNut]

22. Sheesh! Didn't they see how Sonny Corleone got caught at the toll booth?

:dunce:

[Realityhack]

11. I spotted the same thing.

I can just see them stopping and trying to make change for a $20 though the 3 inch gap... "oh and I need a receipt for that... it's a government expense." sure, that's going to happen. Who writes this crap.

[-..__...]

27. "Somebody has to go back ...

and get a shitload of dimes quarters."

[Hawkeye-X]

6. That car does not meet CAFE standards.

Nice to know that it sucks 8 miles to the gallon.

Sheesh.

Hawkeye-X

[tammywammy]

7. Just throwing this out there

But I'm gonna assume that it's because of the freaking armor plating to prevent someone from shooting him through the doors. Just a wild guess. :shrug:

[Posteritatis]

9. The mileage actually impresses me

The thing's got thicker armor all around than most WWII-era warships (seriously), is not a small vehicle in general, is laden with a bunch of stuff in addition to the armor and still matches admittedly-gas-guzzling but much, much smaller and lighter vehicles for mileage. For what that thing's lugging around it's pretty damned efficient.

Not that any of that's going to stop people from whining that it doesn't get seventy miles per gallon or something, but I don't have that much of a problem with a single vehicle used by a head of state not being a Prius.

[Realityhack]

12. CAFE doesn't apply to individual vehicles. n/t

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

33. I Knew If I Scrolled Down I'd See That Some Zealot Commented On The MPG!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Realityhack]

40. It is up to two now. But I love the reffrence to CAFE standards...

which do not apply to trucks (which is what this is built on), or individual vehicles (what with it being the Corporate AVERAGE Fuel Economy). Very careless thinking.

Your post sums up my thinking about such comments.

[yodoobo]

42. CAFE isn't a hard limit

If I recall correctly.

Its just a standard of which if you violate, the manufacturer is taxed on.

If I recall correctly, Mercedes used to violate the CAFE limits on certain models, and the tax was listed on the sticker.

[Realityhack]

51. That is correct.

CAFE standards apply to the average of an entire companies fleet not a single car. And they are a 'soft' limit as you said.
And they do not apply to medium duty and heavier trucks (which this is).
It is a pretty silly statement all around.

[CreekDog]

47. CAFE standards don't apply to an individual car but to fleets

:hi:

[Ron Green]

8. We've come a long way since Jimmy Carter walked in his own parade.

I don't like all the paramilitary bullshit.

[Realityhack]

13. I wouldn't call it bullshit.

Assassination prevention is serious business. Are you seriously proposing that Obama not have an armored car?

[backscatter712]

14. I'm with you on this. There's lots of nutcases out there.

Gas-guzzler or not, I'm glad Obama has this car.

Pretty cool ride. All that armor and the six-inch-thick windows makes it kind of ugly though. I don't think it's easy to make a rolling tank look sleek.

[anonymous171]

53. There are a lot of crazies out there. nt

[Bucky]

15. I didn't know that Tom Poston was working as a chauffeur now

[RiverStone]

16. Does it have a presidential toilet on board?

This could make a good SNL skit. :)

[cloudbase]

43. I don't know,

but the real test would be if a circumcision could be performed in the back.





(Ya gotta be of a certain age to remember that one)

[gblady]

17. impressive....

I didn't know about having blood on board...
that's serious shit...

I love how they have Barack smiling big in the drawing!

[Swamp Rat]

18. It's missing one thing:

[Norrin Radd]

25. Ion cannon from Empire Strikes Back?

[slutticus]

55. Looks like the ones on Hoth

[cloudbase]

44. It would be much cooler

with suicide doors.

[Catherine Vincent]

19. An emergency transfusion?

Will a doctor ride with the President all the time?

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. ewwwwwwwww. Bottles of blood. that's weird. I understand it though.

[Posteritatis]

21. The presidential motorcade usually has a few

I've seen them with accompanying ambulances a few times, so I'd assume there's someone in the procession qualified to do anything short of a brain transplant.

(I'd also assume that at least some of the Secret Service guys assigned to close protection of the president would be trained in what to do if the president was wounded, in addition to trying to make sure he doesn't get wounded in the first place.)

[backscatter712]

23. Actually, I do believe the president's physician is likely to be somewhere in the motorcade.

Not in the president's limo, but in one of the vehicles that accompanies it.

[Unrepentant Fenian]

24. The President's Doctor rides in one of the black ambulances....

The President's Doctor rides in one of the black ambulances, plus the local E.R. and the nearest trauma centre have suites set up just for him that are set up with the President's blood, medical records. massive communications and USSS Field Agents with sterilized weapons dressed in scrubs. They also have a cadre of vetted hospital staff who do nothing all day but wait. There are also two helicopters ready to scramble at the same time.

[yodoobo]

41. sterilized weapons.

The mind boggles...

[Realityhack]

31. You don't need a neural sugen to start a blood trasfusion.

Probably something anyone with military paramedic training could do. Probably more than one in the motorcade at all times.

[Norrin Radd]

26. Does it have an Xbox 360 and a PS3?

[stuntcat]

28. dang :)

my favorite part's the happy guy in the back :blush:

He should ask for better than 8 miles a gallon, tisk tisk!

[Realityhack]

30. In a heavily armored medium duty truck?

Sure... let's just reduce the weight by removing half the armor for better fuel economy.
8mpg is fine for what this is.

[Posteritatis]

49. Less fine and more pretty impressive (nt)

[Realityhack]

52. ??? n/t

[Blarch]

29. Weird, they skip the weight.

[backscatter712]

35. I don't know the weight, but I know a hint or two.

The car's actually built on a big truck chassis - a conventional car frame could not handle the weight. And IIRC, under the hood is a big marine V-12 diesel - you've got to have something like that so there's enough horsepower to actually move that beast.

[Parker CA]

48. From a Popular Mechanic article on "the beast" as they have named this machine.

"With 5 in. worth of ballistic armor under its skin, and added height and length, the presidential limo tips the scales at close to 4 tons. It's probably based on a modified Escalade platform, riding on run-flat tires. The dark leather interior is environmentally sealed against chemical attack."

[Posteritatis]

36. That might be classified, as it would give a hint as to what the armor is

They mention the chassis has a steel plate, but nothing about the rest of the car save for a vague mention of "ceramics."

[Realityhack]

39. actually they say...

"combination of dual hardness steel, aluminum, titanium, and even ceramic" which is a bit more information than just "a vague mention of "ceramics.""

It could be the weight is classified but they may just not have mentioned it. I am not sure it would really provide that much information given all the different materials in use and no clarity on how much the unarmored parts would weigh etc. Who knows.

[Posteritatis]

45. It's not much more information considering how complex modern armor can get (nt)

[Realityhack]

50. true enough.

but it is more than you stated.

[K Gardner]

32. Holy wow ! Wonder if its even a good idea to release the specs on this. n/t

[Realityhack]

56. They aren't exactly releasing the full specs.

Everything is impressive but vague.

[Morning Dew]

34. The President has to donate blood every six weeks or so, then?

So it can be stored here and there in case he needs it for a transfusion.


What's the shelf life on blood now?

[Posteritatis]

37. I'm assuming it's the president's blood *type* (nt)

[Morning Dew]

38. let's hope.

If you had to store your own blood in various locations... well, you'd spend half your time recovering and drinking OJ.

[Dreamer Tatum]

46. Prob classified, but I wonder if it has

a TV with red, white, and yellow RCA jacks, if you know what I mean. I bet Obama has crazy Call of Duty skillz.

[originalpckelly]

54. It's like the Batmobile. It's the Barackmobile!

Why do Presidents need such protection, doesn't that say something about this system? Can our nation really be a democracy if one person's life is much more valuable than the rest of the population's?

[Realityhack]

57. We are a *representative* democracy.

and the president is a very attractive target to those who would hurt us.
You think perhaps we should be the only first world country without such protections? Having the president assassinated is ok?

Yes the president is more important than I am. And that does not negate the fact that I voted for him.