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MOTORING

Trump’s limo makes foreign debut interactive

By Ben Mullins

November 11, 2018 - U.S. President Donald Trump’s brand new version of the General Motors-built Cadillac limousine nick-named “The Beast” is to make its first trip overseas during Trump’s visit to Paris.

The new armoured limousine appeared for the first time in public on Sep 24 when it ferried President Trump around New York ahead of the United Nations General Assembly meetings.

The previous version of the limo first appeared in January 2009 just before Barack Obama took office.

Trump’s new limo features 125mm-thick armour and 200mm-thick doors that weigh as much as a commercial aircraft door. Its components include titanium, ceramics, and a bombproof plate that covers the underside. As such, the old Beast is estimated to weigh around 9,000kg.

It's equipped with run-flat tires and night-vision gear. It can fire gas canisters out of the front bumper.

GM won contracts worth $15.8 million for two phases of the development of the limo from 2014 through 2017, according to federal contracting records, but it is not clear if that represents all development costs.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 08/11/2018; STORY: Graphic News
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