Once upon a time, the President of the United States didn’t roll down Pennsylvania Avenue in an armored personnel carrier disguised as a state limousine. They rode in regular, plain Jane, heavily armored limos, and now you can too. The last presidential limo built on a car chassis is going up for auction this Saturday at Mecum’s Kissimmee 2025 action. The 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham served Bill Clinton before being replaced by the first iteration of the Beast in 2001 for George W. Bush.
While it could not withstand a direct hit from a rocket-propelled grenade, the Fleetwood was armored and featured three-inch-thick bulletproof door glass. The limo is powered by a Jack Roush hand-built 454 cubic-inch V8 engine. A contemporary press release noted that the limo was nine inches longer than the Cadillac delivered for Ronald Reagan in 1984. However, Lincoln supplied George H. W. Bush’s state car. For Cadillac, the return to the White House offered the opportunity to revive its image with the public. The Drive detailed the interior, which was the best the ’90s could offer:
The interior is decked out in plush dark blue leather upholstery and matching carpet as well as Zebrano wood accents. Onboard are oxygen and fire suppression systems, plus a small entertainment hub that includes a Thomson television and VHS player. The rear can accommodate up to six passengers when three flush folding seats are used. Whatever advanced communication systems used to be present have long since been removed, but the oxygen, fire suppression, and public address systems are still intact.
I’m interested to see how much the Fleetwood limousine will sell for. It will be the first-ever presidential limo to be sold into private hands. General Motors estimated it cost at least $6 million to develop the vehicle, $13.2 million today when adjusted for inflation. GM only built three limos for the Clinton administration. For the whereabouts of the other two, one is in Bill Clinton’s presidential library in Little Rock, Arkansas and the other is still in the hands of the federal government.
It takes years to fully retrofit a car for presidential use, which means these babies can stay in service for a long time. The Lincoln that John F. Kennedy rode in when he suffered his famous fatal gunshot wound was used for over a decade following the president’s assassination, for instance. If the new owner believes that a retired presidential limo doesn’t belong in a museum, there are only 627 miles on the odometer, so there is still plenty of time to put some pavement in the rear-view mirror.
