| Harvey Specter | 06-26-2010 12:16 AM |
Luxury, security, authority: Cars of the G8 leaders
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As the host of this year's G8 summit of leaders, there's a good chance we'll get to see Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrive in the Governor General's official state car that he often borrows: an armoured, long-wheelbase Cadillac DTS. The Caddy is usually surrounded by a motorcade of a half-dozen or more vehicles, including Chevrolet Tahoes and Expresses, manned by members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
As the G8 President for 2010, Prime Minister Harper has been busy setting the agenda for this year's summit. Maybe a bit too busy. Although Canada is the only G8 member to not have its own native car company (i.e. General Motors in the U.S., or Fiat in Italy), we think the Ontario-built Chrysler 300 (also available in stretched limo form), would make for a more appropriate ride.
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France has had a long history of lavish Presidential state cars. Think of former President Charles de Gaulle standing tall in his famous Citroën DS, waving to the crowds along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées.
Today, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has the choice of several armoured versions of luxury French-made sedans like the Citroën C6, and Peugeot 607 (pictured in the introduction). He also has access to two unique Citroën SM Présidentielle landaulette models, created for President Georges Pompidou by the coachbuilder Henri Chapron during the 1960s.
Reports, however, say President Sarkozy prefers the quirky Renault Vel Satis, a large five-door hatchback with styling that could only come from a country that reveres comedian Jerry Lewis.
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As the leader of a country that is home to some of the most respected luxury automakers in the world, German Chancellor Angela Merkel must be the envy of her G8 counterparts.
While Chancellor Merkel's car pool currently includes armored limousines from all German car manufacturers, such as the Audi A8, BMW 7 Series and even the Volkswagen Phaeton, throughout history, top-line Mercedes sedans have been the choice of German heads of state and high-ranking government officials. As such, the Chancellor's official state car is an armoured 12-cylinder Mercedes-Benz S600 limousine.
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Like the personalities of the leaders themselves, most of the G8 leaders attending this year's summit in Toronto prefer somber, conservative sedans as their official rides. Then there's the often controversial, but never boring Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi.
Sometimes better known for his Italian media firms (he owns various television channels, as well as some of the largest circulation national news magazines that add up to nearly half the Italian market), alleged relations with the Italian mafia, or his sense of humour, Prime Minister Berlusconi gets chauffeured around in one of the most gorgeous four-doors in the world: a Maserati Quattroporte.
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As one of the leading automaking countries in the world, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has a choice of several cars to be driven in. But currently, the politician's official ride is fittingly a top-line Lexus LS 600h L hybrid, usually surrounded by police driving Toyota Celsiors.
Ironically, the Emperors of Japan (the country's symbolic head of state), have had a more international flavour in their motor pools. Over the decades, their fleet has included various Mercedes-Benzes, Cadillac and Rolls-Royce limousines. Today, though, the Emperor and Empress of Japan are chauffeured in a stretched Toyota Century Royal, said to have cost $500,000 to build.
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While former President Vladimir Putin has been spotted driving around in his Lada Niva SUV during one of his many hunting trips, current Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is chauffeured around in a stretched Mercedes-Benz S-Class. His cavalcade can also include other German vehicles, like the Mercedes G-Class SUV, E-Class sedan, BMW 5 Series sedan, and Volkswagen Caravelle van.
Before 1989, while under the former communist regime when Russia led the Soviet Union, the General Secretary of the Communist Party was chauffeured in a home-market ZIL-41047, two of which are still available in the government fleet if Medvedev's in the mood.
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In one of the more exciting general elections in U.K. history, 43-year-old British Prime Minister David Cameron became one of the youngest U.K. Prime Ministers ever this May. But it didn't take long for Cameron to get used to an old tradition: being chauffeured around in a Jaguar XJ sedan.
While the Queen of England has a preference for custom-built Bentleys, British Prime Ministers usually stick to the less flashy Jags. For many years, homegrown Rovers were the PM's choice car, with the '60s-era Rover P5 being used into the 1980s. But it was former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that brought in the use of Jaguars.
Cameron will soon get a new ride in the form of the flamboyantly styled 2011 XJ, which will arrive for duty shortly.
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Fitting his position as the "leader of the Free World," and the most powerful representative at this year's G8 summit, American President Barack Obama's limo is likely the most technically sophisticated and tricked-out state vehicle in the world.
Nicknamed "The Beast," Obama's Cadillac Presidential Limousine is actually based on the chassis of a GMC Topkick medium-duty commercial truck, its angular bodywork wearing headlights from an Escalade, and the grille and taillights from an STS.
Although the U.S. Secret Service hasn't released all of its details, the so-called "Cadillac One" is said to feature 20-cm thick armour-plating, an independent oxygen supply, an on-board fire-fighting system, night-vision cameras, tear-gas cannons, Kevlar-reinforced tires, and Obama's own personal storage of blood.
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