Here’s a car that won’t be coming to a used car dealer anytime soon. Or ever in fact.
They call it the Beast, or more formally, the US Presidential Limousine, and its features are really something to behold.
It’s a sort of weapon-proof survival capsule on wheels with armour plating that’s eight inches thick and five-inch-thick bulletproof glass.
There’s also run flat tyres reinforced with Kevlar for that bit of extra security. The Beast is nominally a Cadillac, though the body and mechanicals owe more to a truck than anything rolling off any Cadillac production line.
It’s really only the grille and the lights that make it look vaguely like a Cadillac.
So if there’s little chance of shooting through the vehicle, what about gassing? Nope, the Beast’s interior is sealed from the outside world.
Bloody well supplied
They’ve pretty-well thought of everything. It also has fire-fighting equipment, oxygen tanks and a store of the President’s own blood, just in case everything else fails.
Should anyone be foolhardy enough to attack the Beast, they can expect a spirited gun totin’ response from the occupants.
The Beast packs different types of defence weapons, and tips the scales at 9.1 tonnes. It is a little on the heavy side and probably handles like a barge, but you can bet your bottom dollar that the drivers know how to drive it.
Prime Minister’s limo
So, how does our newly minted Prime Minister’s set of wheels compare to it? Surprisingly well in fact. The PM’s BMW 7 limo also has armour plating, bulletproof doors and windows, run-flat tyres and oxygen on board.
All those interesting features and accessories pack an extra tonne onto the BMW’s two tonnes, but that’s positively svelte compared to its American equivalent.
What Prime Minister Anthony Albanese makes of it all is anyone’s guess. His previous set of wheels was a modest hybrid Toyota Camry.
If he’s keen to set an example by switching to an electric limo, well he could be waiting a while to do that.
That’s because vehicles like his armour-plated BMW come out of special sections of the BMW factory that build these things from the ground up.
Many luxury vehicle makers have the same specialised set-ups, but the average person in the street would be struggling to get their hands on one of their vehicles.
Right now no one’s making armour-plated electric vehicles with all those interesting accessories, so there’s nothing to buy, but German luxury vehicle makers are apparently developing them.
Over the ditch, the Kiwis seem to be a little more laid-back about such matters. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern frequently gets about in a Mercedes van, but her official limo is an Audi e-tron.
There's no mention of whether it's armour plated and bulletproof or not, but it does come with a child’s seat for her daughter.