Car aficionado and onetime late-night funny man James Douglas Muir Leno recently got an opportunity to have the current Cadillac-branded presidential limo in his garage for an interview with two secret service presidential detail members. There’s still a lot about these giant machines that isn’t known by the general public for reasons of national security, and Leno wasn’t even allowed to open up the doors or windows, let alone see what’s going on under the hood. This video from Jay Leno’s Garage is still worth a watch, however, as you get some context as to the massive size of The Beast, and some fun anecdotes from the guys who have driven it.
Regardless of your particular political bent, we can all agree it’s cool that General Motors developed a largely indestructible car for one of the most important people in the world to ride around inside of, right? And it’s particularly funny that even a hand-built monster like The Beast can have standard parts like the air conditioning quit unexpectedly. The President of the United States of America had to ride around in a car with no air conditioning on a hot day. Damn, he’s just like me!
We know the Beast is 18 feet long, wears eight inches of armor plating, and only one of the windows actually rolls down, but that’s about it. This thing is rumored to be airtight with backup oxygen onboard in case of a gas attack. The only thing that can kill the president while he’s riding in The Beast is the march of time and inevitability. While inside this big thing, Joe Biden is as snug as a bug.
To give you an idea of the gargantuan size of this giant car, Jay Leno is listed as being 5-foot-11, so hopefully that helps your brain understand the scale.