The United States presidential state car nicknamed "The Beast", [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] "Cadillac One", [ 4 ] [ 5 ] "First Car"; [ 6 ] code named "Stagecoach" [ 7 ] [ 8 ] is the official state car of the president of the United States. United States presidents embraced automotive technology in the early 20th century with President William Howard Taft 's purchase of four cars and the conversion of the White House stables into a garage.
Presidents rode in stock, unmodified cars until President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's administration bought the Sunshine Special , the first presidential state car to be built to United States Secret Service standards. Until the assassination of John F. Kennedy , presidential state cars frequently allowed the president to ride uncovered and exposed to the public. President Kennedy's assassination began a progression of increasingly armored and sealed cars; the β state car had five-inch mm bulletproof glass and was hermetically sealed with its own environmental system.
The current model of presidential state car is a unique Cadillac that debuted in September Decommissioned presidential state cars are destroyed by the Secret Service for training and to protect their secrets. Late 20th-century and 21st-century presidential motorcades have consisted of 24β45 vehicles other than the presidential state car, including those for security, healthcare, the press, and route-clearing, among others. President Taft became a fan of the steam car when he discovered he could conceal himself from press photographers with a "carefully timed burst of steam.
President Warren G. Harding was the first president to use a car to drive to his inauguration , and was the first qualified driver to be elected president. In , President Franklin D. Roosevelt bought a Ford V8 Phaeton coupe and had it equipped with hand controls in direct contravention of a Secret Service directive prohibiting sitting presidents from getting behind the wheel of a car.
The Sunshine Special underwent two sets of modifications. In the car's top was lowered three inches 76 mm out of aesthetic concerns. In , after the attack on Pearl Harbor , the car underwent the addition of armor, one-inch 25 mm bulletproof glass , "metal-clad flat-proof inner tubes , a radio transceiver , a siren , red warning lights, and a compartment for submachine guns.
