All the 大統領s' モーターs
By BEN OLIVER, Live Night & Day
Last updated at 11:41 12 December 2005
Don't 行方不明になる live every week in The Mail on Sunday
They're bombproof. They're bulletproof. They're even 有能な of 開始する，打ち上げるing a 核の strike. But which world leader
has the most 安全な・保証する, hi-tech and luxurious limo of them all? Ben Oliver
shuffles the pack...
You're a world leader ? a 大統領，／社長, a 首相, a king or an emperor.
You're at the pinnacle of your career, the most famous person in your
country. And what better way to signify your VIP status than a bespoke,
最高の，を越す-of-the-範囲 car?
Like many men 促進するd to their dream 職業, this would seem like the perfect
適切な時期 to let 引き裂く and order a Bentley, Ferrari or a 限られた／立憲的な 版
sports car. But George Bush, Tony Blair, Vladimir Putin and their peers have
all been 軍隊d to pass by their gleaming 200mph dream machines and start
looking at cars for other 推論する／理由s than their va-va voom.
For a start, if you're an elected 政治家，政治屋, your car can't be too
extravagant, but at the same time you don't want to arrive at the next G8
首脳会議 to find your fellow statesmen stepping out from longer, glossier
limos. And your ride is more than just a ride these days: It has to 機能（する）／行事
as everything from 動きやすい office to a 爆弾 避難所. And you think you had
trouble deciding which hatchback to buy?
One of your own
The first 支配する is that if you're 代表するing a car-producing nation, it's
got to be one of your own. Blair would never live 負かす／撃墜する the shame of 現れるing
from a German, Japanese or French car while Britain still has a モーター
産業. And though Bush may have his 注目する，もくろむ on a supercharged Italian road
goddess, his 愛国的な 支持者s would never 許す a 大統領，／社長 parading
around in a Lamborghini. Bush
does get some perks though, as he was the first person to own Cadillac's new
DTS 高級な saloon, which wasn't 明かすd at a モーター show but in Dubya's
就任（式）／開始 motorcade at the start of this year.
Sadly, when it comes to limos, the major problem 直面するing leaders today is
安全 rather than 速度(を上げる） or elegance. Travelling by car has always been a
危険な 演習 for world leaders.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in the 支援する of a car in 1914,
precipitating the start of World War I. After John F Kennedy was killed in his
open-最高の，を越す Lincoln, US 大統領，／社長s switched to の近くにd, armoured cars, and since
the 殺人未遂 of ローマ法王 John Paul II in his open car in 1981 the
Popemobile has featured 十分な-高さ 弾丸-proof glass. Former Spanish PM
Jos? Maria Aznar has his armoured Audi to thank for saving his life in a 爆弾
attack in 1995.
The 危険 to our leaders has risen 劇的な with the war in Iraq and
テロリスト 残虐（行為）s around the world. Bush and Blair have both had their
乗り物s 昇格d. They are now thought to 含む features such as gas-proof
cabins and their own oxygen 供給（する） to 保護する the occupants from 化学製品
attack. Ultra-安全な・保証する communications systems 許す them to 開始する，打ち上げる a 核の
strike from the 慰安 of their 支援する seat. And if you thought that gadgets
such as an oil spray hidden under the 後部 bumper were 限定するd to 社債
movies, think again.
While a ひどく armoured 戦車／タンク may seem the safest 解答 in these troubled
times, rolling up at the White House or Number 10 in the 最新の 挑戦者
戦う／戦い 戦車／タンク is likely to send out the wrong signal to the general public. The
choice of model is, therefore, almost as important as the way it's armoured.
Blair could have a British-made Rolls-Royce or a Bentley, but with price tags
of up to £250,000 before little modifications such as ロケット／急騰する 発射台s and
明言する／公表する-of-the-art computers are 追加するd, they'd be seen as too ostentatious.
These makes are better ふさわしい to 王族.
A 冷笑的な 観察者／傍聴者 might say that the cars follow 国家の stereotypes;
while Bush's Cadillac is obese, the Italian 首相 and 大統領，／社長
enjoy the Ferrari-力／強力にするd, impossibly sexy Maserati Quattroporte. And 欠如（する）ing
any 高級な cars of their own, proud French politicos have to make do with a
moderately 定価つきの Renault hatchback that went out of 生産／産物 five years
ago.
But the days of 広大な, glossy 高級な saloons 飛行機で行くing the 旗 might be
numbered. Public 関心 over 汚染 and 利益／興味 in 代案／選択肢-力／強力にする
cars will 軍隊 our leaders to be seen in leaner, greener 乗り物s. Indeed,
within the 安全な・保証する 限定するs of last year's G8 首脳会議 in America, the leaders
swapped their bloated 船s for electric cars painted in their 国家の
colours. We're sure to see more of this in the 未来 ? and it certainly gets
around that limo-envy problem.
The leaders 診察するd
Tony Blair
CAR: JAGUAR SUPER V8
STANDARD PRICE: £74,995, THIS VERSION £200,000.
ENGINE: 4.2-LITRE V8
POWER: 400BHP
TOP SPEED: 155MPH
SEATS: FOUR
STANDARD WEIGHT: 1,665KG
THIS VERSION: 3,000KG*
Own 空気／公表する 供給（する） to 反対する gas; armoured
to withstand attack by 手渡す 手りゅう弾 or 強襲，強姦 ライフル銃／探して盗む; public 演説（する）／住所 system;
tamper sensors; run-flat tyres. Jaguar has now made a 見解／翻訳／版 commercially
利用できる, also 定価つきの at £200,000.
* ESTIMATED PRICE/SPECIFICATION
George W Bush
CAR: CADILLAC DTS
STANDARD PRICE: £30,000, THIS VERSION £1 MILLION*.
ENGINE: 4.6-LITRE V8
POWER: 290BHP
TOP SPEED: 130MPH
SEATS: SIX
STANDARD WEIGHT 1,800KG, THIS VERSION 4,500KG*
Blue leather 削減する; ten-CD multichanger; higher roofline for better
visibility; 倍のing desks in cabin. 保護 system is a 明言する／公表する secret but
確かな to 含む gun stowage racks, 激しい armour and 安全な・保証する communications
system to authorise 核の strike 命令（する）s.
Silvio Berlusconi
CAR: MASERATI QUATTROPORTE
STANDARD PRICE: £74,550, THIS VERSION £200,000*.
ENGINE: 4.2-LITRE V8
POWER: 400BHP
TOP SPEED: 171MPH
SEATS: FOUR
STANDARD WEIGHT 1,970KG. THIS VERSION 3,300KG*
信用 the Italians to have the fastest, noisiest, most stylish 明言する／公表する 輸送（する）, 完全にする with racetrack-ready V8 engine and F1-style
six-速度(を上げる） sequential gearbox. Bulletproof パネル盤s and glass surround the
乗客s.
Vladimir Putin
CAR:ZIL-41052
STANDARD PRICE: N/A, THIS VERSION £400,000*.
ENGINE: 7.7-LITRE V8
POWER: 313BHP
TOP SPEED: 120MPH
SEATS: SEVEN
STANDARD WEIGHT: N/A. THIS VERSION 5,500KG*
Putin travels おもに by stretched armoured Mercedes but
keeps a handful of these 広大な, old-style Soviet limos, built around a
bombproof 爆撃する. A few passed into 私的な 手渡すs, 含むing one bought and
stripped 負かす／撃墜する by the 中央情報局.
Angela Merkel
CAR: VOLKSWAGEN PHAETON
STANDARD PRICE: £70,065, THIS VERSION £200,000*.
ENGINE: 6-LITRE W12
POWER: 443BHP
TOP SPEED: 155MPH
SEATS: FOUR
STANDARD WEIGHT 2,434KG, THIS VERSION 4,000KG*
Gerhard Schroeder chose VW's 旗艦 superluxury saloon
over the Audis and Mercs used by former German （ドイツなどの）首相／（大学の）学長s, but has had to
手渡す it over to 後継者 Angela Merkel. A hugely powerful six-litre W12 engine （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域s even Berlusconi's Maserati with
its 443bhp.
Jacques Chirac
CAR: RENAULT SAFRANE BITURBO
STANDARD PRICE: £38,000, THIS VERSION £150,000*.
ENGINE: 3-LITRE V6 TWIN TURBO
POWER: 264BHP
TOP SPEED 156MPH
SEATS: FOUR
STANDARD WEIGHT 1,724KG, THIS VERSION 3,000KG*
Oh dear. フラン doesn't make 高級な cars, so Chirac is stuck
with an armoured 大統領の 見解／翻訳／版 of an ugly, large hatchback now long
out of 生産／産物. It features the usual run-flat tyres and インチ-厚い glass.
Chirac also has a very 冷静な／正味の open-最高の，を越す Seventies Citro?n SM.
Hu Jintao
CAR: RED FLAG
STANDARD PRICE: NOT AVAILABLE, THIS VERSION £ 250,000.
ENGINE: 4.6-LITRE V8
POWER: 213BHP
TOP SPEED: 120MPH
SEATS: SIX
STANDARD WEIGHT: N/A, THIS VERSION 4,000KG*
The Chinese 政府 計画（する）s to cash in on the country's
にわか景気 in car-loving millionaires by 許すing carmaker Red 旗 to sell a
£100,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom 競争相手. This 見解／翻訳／版 gets money-no-反対する
steel-plate armouring.
ローマ法王 Benedict XVI
CAR: MERCEDES-BENZ ML430
STANDARD PRICE: £38,640, THIS VERSION £150,000*
ENGINE: 4.3-LITRE V8
POWER: 268BHP
TOP SPEED: 120MPH
SEATS: TWO, ONE STANDING.
STANDARD WEIGHT 1,900KG. THIS VERSION 3,500KG*.
There's little room for anyone
but the ローマ法王 in this incredible machine. Those tall, bulletproof windows are
heavier than the 同等（の） bulletproof steel. Merc SUVs are the basis of the
Popemobiles, but BMW is now thought to be bidding to 供給する ローマ法王 Benedict's
new wheels.
Roh Moo-Hyun
CAR: HYUNDAI EQUUS
STANDARD PRICE: £40,000, THIS VERSION £170,000*.
ENGINE: 4.5-LITRE V8
POWER: 270BHP
TOP SPEED: 130MPH
SEATS: FOUR
STANDARD WEIGHT: 2,165KG, THIS VERSION 4,000KG*.
The South Koreans make a few 高級な saloons that we don't
get over here, and 大統領 Roh's V8-力／強力にするd Hyundai is the biggest of the
lot. Features special armouring for the 燃料 戦車／タンク and 電気の system, to
妨げる 解雇する／砲火／射撃 or 決裂／故障 under machinegun attack.
Goran Persson
CAR: VOLVO S80
STANDARD PRICE: £39,648, THIS VERSION £150,000*
ENGINE: 2.9-LITRE STRAIGHT 6
POWER: 272BHP
TOP SPEED: 155MPH
SEATS: FOUR
STANDARD WEIGHT 1,573KG, THIS VERSION 2,800KG*
Also favoured by Sweden's mad King Carl Gustaf. Sweden's a
low-危険 country, but these Volvos are so armoured that they're also used by
the Israelis. 十分な under-床に打ち倒す 手りゅう弾 保護 and 抵抗力のある to AK47
弾丸s.
Emperor Akihito
CAR: TOYOTA CENTURY ROYAL
STANDARD PRICE: NOT AVAILABLE, THIS VERSION £275,000*.
ENGINE: 5-LITRE V12
POWER: 273BHP
TOP SPEED: 120MPH
SEATS: EIGHT
STANDARD WEIGHT: N/A, THIS VERSION 4,000KG*
Still un der 開発 by Toyota, based on a 抱擁する,
Japan-only 高級な saloon. The emperor isn't a high-危険 的, but Akihito's
見解／翻訳／版 will be stretched, ひどく armoured and fitted with an uprated
中断 for 早い 逃亡s.
Comments 0
株 what you think
No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or 審議 this 問題／発行する live on our message boards.
We are no longer 受託するing comments on this article.
