Apparently one of the 2006 Presidential Cadillac Limos traveling with President Obama hit a speed bump in Ireland causing the Limo to bottom out being unable to move. The President's Limo traveling behind the bottomed out duplicate Limo was able to continue on. Is the weight and lowness of the car not figured out by the Secret Service by now? The ability to negotiate a speed bump must not be covered in the Secret Service manual for operating Presidential Limos. Charles D. Barnette-an avid fan of Presidential Limos. Somebody has egg on their face!
Ouch!
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7367035n (http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7367035n)
That was a loud thunk eh?
I guess this is "Break"-ing news. I hope they have AAA.
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It looks as though the President could have used the thorough preparation and precision craftsmanship of Hess & Eisenhardt, rather than General Motors! Of course these behemoths of vehicles have extraordinary demands upon their chassis and suspensions. At least there is some consolation for GM that this was the '06 DTS-based bodystyle limo, rather than the newest iteration. ;)
Ha ha ha. What an embarrassment. Not the stranding, but the half-down trousers of the worker assessing the situation. Must have been a local Plummer.
But, when the driver got out of the car, it sure showed the thickness of the door frame. Had to be at least 3" thick.
It goes to show that European entrances are designed for high ground clearance, short wheelbase vehicles only.
Bruce. >:D
Yeah Bruce, the Towie took the "Bottoms out" call a bit too seriously . . . . Q
I'll bet the Tow Truck driver got a shock when his hoist took the strain lifting the car up.
Those armour-plated vehicles are H E A V Y.
Wonder if the driver is ringing up the Insurance Company?
Bruce. >:D
It looks to me like the right front spring/strut collapsed under the weight.
Not talking too much about the potential extremely high security risk a totally immobilized Presidential Limo could cause (also here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzJoRGTKuOE ).......why did not they use the "Beast"? ???
It appears to me that there was a suspension failure when they hit the bump, looking at the video, the front pneumatic suspension failed on the way up and dropped to full compression on the way back down.
Could have been worse, and the car following might not have stopped in time. That driver should be mentioned in dispatches for assessing the situation, and hitting the picks.
I suppose the next thing to be banned will be air suspension. ;)
Bruce. >:D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5icV_mctrkE
I think Gravel is right, I also thought the front suspension went out, seems like the noise is the suspension, not the car center of car hitting bump, the center of car isn't touching the ground when you hear the noise.
It was first reported by someone in car that it was a metal on metal sound, they thought their was something metal going across ground but from what I can see it's cement with no metal sticking up.
I wonder what the Ireland Prime Minister or Ambassador has, doesn't look like gate was designed for a long wheel based car.
There looks to be a pierce of steel protruding from the centre of the driveway, which would retain the bottom of the two gates as they closed, and I thought that it was this piece that "grabbed" some protrusion underneath, like a transmission crossmember or similar.
Bruce. >:D
PS. But, it was still very funny.
Heres a video from a different angle, it kinda does look like something across entrance, but I couldn't be sticking up too much when you see the first cars go over it they don't bump much, must have been just enough to catch the bottom of car.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_pHzZERUTQ&feature=related
Do they call him O'Bama now that he discovered he has Irish Roots?
That `ugly Cadillac` is supposed to be built on a heavily modified GMC Truck chassis. Air bags- stupid idea. Heavy is worse. Oh well, back to the drawing board ...
c chleboun #20099
With all the armor around the "Presidential Cabin", the center of gravity is not that far forward either, it did a full front air dump and full rear inflate.
Well you know, the Secret Service will make sure they check all routes for clearance in the future.
In my professional opinion, the bottoming out was a symptom of suspension failure, not the cause of suspension failure.
Reportedly there was some metal object in the center of the driveway that the gates latched into when closed. Perhaps the limo hit that and pulled out a hydraulic line causing the car to drop like a rock?
I would be much more inclined to believe that if it hit more toward the center of the wheel base, but given that it bottomed out so far forward.. Look at the wheel well gap on approach, there is plenty of ground clearance built into this thing when all is functioning correctly.
One still has to wonder why the 2009 Presidential Limos have not fully replaced the 2006 Presidential Limos in transporting the Commander in Chief of our nation? Why does the 5 year old Limo get priority over the 2 year old Limo on such a trip? Is it because the diesel (if it truly is diesel as I suspect) sound or operation of the 2009 vehicle is undesirable? Charles D. Barnette
Maybe the 2009 Obama-mobile is back at Cadillac getting fitted for whitewall tires finally?
Those 2006s may be older but they sure look nicer.
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Look how thick those doors are!
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Note that Charles Barnette correctly identifies the Limo as being a "2006" , not the newer "2008" version that is based on a truck chassis. The video looks like the metal bar protruding up from the driveway caught the suspension or a cross-member. Hard to believe the Secret Service has never heard of "Skid Plates" . Tim Pawl CLC#4383
I didn't realize either it was the older Limo till Charles pointed it out, could it be the Beast is so heavy they don't want to put it on Air Force 1 for a Trans Continental flight? Would be interested to see if during O'Bama's other over seas visits if they also used the older limo's.
Does the Beast also have an identical twin like the older limo's?
They must have driven in same gate at Embassy, you would of thought it would have caught going in as well.
Since there were 3 1993 Cadillac Presidential Limos built for Clinton, and three 2001 and three 2006 Cadillac Presidential Limos built for George W. Bush, it is believed to be three of the newest Cadillac Presidential Limos that were built for Obama in existence. Although at first blush it is comical as to what happened in Ireland, the ramifications of a security breach are serious! If the President was indeed riding in the disabled vehicle, then that means he must be physically moved out of the car to another car in public. Further it is my understanding that the "the black box" that holds the codes to destroy the world travels with him in the Limo! That must be moved as well! I have cited this before, but I distinctly remember when Clinton came to Texarkana in 1999 and the Limo was parked behind the motel where Clinton was speaking. I asked my friend to get a picture of the Limo while I got a picture of Clinton inside the motel. My friend told me that as he approached the Limo a Secret Service agent stopped him telling him that if he took one more step toward the vehicle that my friend would be shot. The agent pointed to an agent with a rifle standing on top of the motel with his rifle aimed at my friend. I assume all of this was because of the black box being in the Limo. This also reminds me as to when a barricade was not installed in Hartford, Conn., and President Ford's Limo was broadsided by another car innocently knocking the President down into the floorboard on impact! Charles D. Barnette-I wish I could get a copy of the final Secret Service report on the Ireland incident once it is completed. I am sure it would be most interesting!
Let's hope Obama doesn't accidently mistake his Rule the World Gamebox for his Nintendo Wii gamebox while he's sitting is in the back seat bored. To be sure . To be sure.
Actually, I think the "small" protrusion was the Irish version of the "Bollard". And was only raised to stop O'Bama from venturing further into the grips of the Irish countryside.
Bruce. >:D
PS. It is still VERY funny. But, with my background into parades and convoys, I can understand the ramifications of this sudden stoppage.
PPS. I think the reason why it took so long for people to alight from the vehicle, especially the President, could be that he needed time to compose and clean himself up after spilling whatever he could have been holding.
I would imagine that the protocol in an incident like this is the agents inside the car do not throw the doors open to see what happened. That would literally open the door for attack. They would let the agents outside assess the situation first.
Did you notice they moved a bus to block the view? An improvised screen against a sniper?
I’m amazed at the number of agents looking at the car instead of the crowd where an attack would come from.
Glen, I completely agree. Sure seemed like they handled it rather lackadaisically..
My hat is off to the Secret Service and the huge job they have in protecting the President of The United States and others they must protect by law. The Secret Service has come a long way in security since President Kennedy was allowed to ride in an open convertible limo in downtown Dallas with some 20,000 windows in buildings that needed to be guarded against! However the second the Secret Service lets their guard down they are flirting with disaster. Bottom line is that the advance agents designing and inspecting the route to be taken by the President should have spotted any potential, permanent obstacles to be encountered by a Presidential Limo that has been in their hands for five years! Charles D. Barnette
I think that they're out of business aren't they (Hess & Eisenhardt)? If not these are the ugliest cars that I ever have seen next to the "AZTEC" SUV!
Beauty! Also, funny that it was a failed airbag....like a lot of things that collapsed recently! A perfect analogy for this bunch of folks!