Cadillacs have been the go-to marque for US presidential limos since the 80s. Even as they evolved into heavily armored, limo-like bodies bolted to heavy truck chassis like the current creature they call “The Beast”, presidential rides still carried the good old Cadillac crest. While the President gets to ride Cadillac style, the praetorian guard Secret Service has long had to make due with workaday armored Chevy Suburbans for its chase vehicles. That seems to be about to change though, because it looks like the Secret Service is going to get some Caddys of its own.
According to Reuters, Secret Service director Dan Curran met with General Motors executives at the GM Global Design Center over in Warren, MI, to discuss new rides for both the President and the Secret Service. The Secret Service’s official X account had this to say about the meeting:
“Countering evolving threats require (sic) us to constantly explore new innovations and improvements to our armored fleet of protective vehicles. Director Sean Curran met with GM executives to discuss advancements that could benefit the next generation of armored SUVs.”
In that same post, the account shared a picture from the meeting showing an Escalade-badged, armored SUV. Reading the tea leaves, there’s a good chance that those will be the next Secret Service chase vehicles.
Cadillac Style
So, when are we going to see these urban assault Escalades cruising Pennsylvania Ave.? Probably not any time soon. It typically takes years of development before one of these things even sees pavement, let alone goes into production.
“We are too far out to speak to any specific costs or dates,” a Secret Service spokesperson told Reuters. “Our engineering, protective operations and technical security teams work for years to develop the state-of-the-art framework that is used to produce these highly advanced vehicles.”
In addition to the new armored Escalades, Reuters mentioned that the US Department of Homeland Security awarded GM a $14.8 million contract to develop a replacement for the current presidential limo back in September of 2024. The current version of The Beast has been in use since 2018, so it’s definitely due for a replacement. The new Beast contract could bring in $40.8 million over the five years of its lifetime, no small chunk of change for The General.
So, along with everything else, does this mean we might see an Escalade HD on showroom floors sometime soon? You know, for big spenders who want to cosplay federal agents on their way to work in the morning. It’s hard to say, but if Cadillac does announce a superluxe HD Escalade in the future, we’ll let you know.
