Link: http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/presidential-limousine/?scp=4&sq=New%20York%20Limo&st=cse

A new Cadillac presidential limousine officially broke cover just before 11 a.m. Tuesday morning when President-elect Barack Obama and President Bush shared its back seat for the traditional ride from the White House to the Capitol for the noon swearing-in ceremony.

I wrote about this car for The Times in November after the first spy shots of the primer-covered prototype were leaked to the press. Having been fascinated with presidential limos since I was a 10-year-old watching Richard Nixon’s motorcade pass through Mamaroneck, N.Y., in 1972, I have never seen as much public attention devoted to a presidential limo as to President Obama’s. The only car that comes remotely close is the navy blue Lincoln in which John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.

The new limousine.
I could tell from watching video of the inaugural parade that President Obama’s new limousine appears to have plenty in common with the 2006-style Cadillacs that accompanied it down Pennsylvania Avenue, including details like the unusually wide windshield pillars that define its fortress-like roofline. The massive extra-load tires that looked to be from a General Motors medium-duty truck seemed to dwarf the Secret Service agents walking alongside. And the two agents sitting in the front seat were almost shoulder-to-shoulder, a good clue that it can be a bit cramped inside because of the car’s heavily armored body and 5-inch- to 6-inch-deep windows.

The doors of presidential cars are much thicker than a conventional Cadillac’s, as seen in this image from last week. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)When the president and his wife, Michelle, stepped out of the car to walk during the parade, I had a tantalizing look at the huge inner overlaps that are installed to keep bullets from entering through the door gaps. It is no wonder that the Secret Service’s nickname for this car and its immediate predecessor is “The Beast.”

Where President Obama’s Cadillac truly breaks fresh ground is in its crisply tailored sheet metal. Where the look of the Mr. Bush’s limousines were inspired by the 2000 De Ville and 2006 DTS, President Obama’s car derives its styling from the CTS and Escalade. The chiseled wheel arches look like those on a CTS, as does the cross-hatch background on the grille. The side mirrors appear to come from the Escalade. The new Cadillac is also the first presidential limo in at least six decades to have the contemporary look of black-wall tires instead of white walls.

Even if the wide pillars flanking the deep armored glass are basically carried over from the 2000-2008 White House vehicles, the roofline looks sleeker because of the subtly rising beltline and the full-length molding connecting the window tops. Only the switch from styled wheels to chrome-plated wheel covers seems a step backward.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/14/nyregion/about-new-york-limousine-king-puts-fantasies-on-four-wheels.html?scp=3&sq=New%20York%20Limo&st=cse

The sleek limousine glides to a halt, preferably in a position visible from her window. The chauffeur leaps out carrying a single elegant rose to fetch the young lovely. Waiting patiently is the self-anointed prince of the evening, nonchalantly preparing to uncork the fine champagne.

To some - particularly the paunchy, balding sorts who can afford it - this vision might seem like life's ultimate dream, or perhaps their proper due. To others, it doubtless sounds sexist in the extreme, a throwback to courting rituals long and justifiably dead. To Jack G. Schwartz, king of limousines, it sounds a lot like a cash register tinkling to the tune of $50 million a year.

And his own life. From stickball on the streets of Flatbush, Mr. Schwartz went on to make millions selling Ramblers and Oldsmobiles, and, over the last decade - by his own calculation - he then became the planet's largest maker, lessor, seller and servicer of limousines. But after 20 years of marriage, Mr. Schwartz found himself divorced and alone, with only millions of dollars to cling to for comfort.

And, as things developed, the occasional gorgeous woman. ''I was going out with the most beautiful models in New York and fulfilling all my fantasies,'' he recalled, grinning a bit too broadly. ''But how do you impress a model?''

Limos, of course. (Oh, the odd diamond bracelet never hurts, he admits.) It is a concept Mr. Schwartz, now 58 years old, has sold to pot-bellied sexagenarians with miles of gold chains. One ordered a limo with no seats, just a bed done in deerskin. ''He was a sick sexual pervert, but the nicest guy in the world,'' Mr. Schwartz said. The man, incidentally, recently remarried, to a woman half his age and traded in the car.

Limos don't roll off any assembly lines; rather, each is crafted from a production model. car. The arcane business has taken the limo king to the top. Lynn, his wife of nine years, has made Mr. Schwartz forget all those leggy models. He has a horse farm north of the city, servants, five Akita dogs, 50 pre-1933 slot machines and 60 antique wooden radios, etc., etc.

But that summit was hard won. Mr. Schwartz went to work at age 10, the year after he saw his father killed by a drunken driver while waiting for a trolley on Avenue Y in Brooklyn. There were two years of college, followed by selling bathing suits at $35 a week, and then the big break in 1951: selling wholesale used cars on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx. Mr. Schwartz sold 10,000 a year, pocketing $25 commission for each.

He then became the region's biggest American Motors dealer, sold his interest and ''retired'' in 1964. He took a four-month global trip; naturally, a limousine was waiting at each stop. But cars were in his blood: He returned to the business and proceeded to become the world's largest Olds dealer.

Mr. Schwartz first leased limos - his real love - in the mid-1960's, and began making them in 1979. Today, he figures some 5,000 of the 7,000 limousines in the New York area have either been bought or leased from Dillinger/ Gaines Coachworks Ltd., the corporate name for his skein of limo-related companies.

His base, incongruously, is the South Bronx. To get there from any direction, you drive through block upon ravaged block. Only after passing a well-guarded corner does one view the 150 or so shining limos in a parking lot next to the coal terminal that Mr. Schwartz converted to his executive offices. Why? From this inexpensive location, it is just a 10-minute shot to teeming midtown.

One of the limos in the lot the other day was Donald J. Trump's, in for repairs and distinguished by a paper shredder, a personal computer and a hidden safe. A new one was nearly ready for Leona Helmsley, the hotelier preparing to stand trial for tax evasion. ''It's a beautiful, beautiful car,'' Mr. Schwartz said. ''I hope she's around long enough to use it.''

Mr. Schwartz has made limos with gun turrets for Arab princes, limos with gold fixtures for Hollywood stars and, recently, he chopped a Chrysler in half and crafted one for Lee Iacocca. But most of his business is in the New York area, home to more than 70 percent of American limos. Acknowledging even normal cars have trouble moving on these mean streets, Mr. Schwartz suggests the reason is a quest for safety, what he terms ''pizzazz'' and a reaction to the ''disgusting place'' New York has become - beggars, prostitutes and all.

Whatever, the limo king is his own best customer. When Mr. Schwartz goes to Le Club, one of his hangouts, he demands to be chauffeured the block and a half to his home on the Upper East Side. ''You don't want to end the evening on a sour note,'' he explained.