"The Henry Ford’s Presidential Vehicles exhibit traces the changing balance between a president’s need to be seen, and need to be safe. Included in this exhibit are the horse-drawn carriage used by Theodore Roosevelt and presidential parade cars that transported Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. The most prominent vehicle is the 1961 Lincoln Continental Presidential Limousine that John F. Kennedy was riding in when assassinated on November 22, 1963. The vehicle was rebuilt and used regularly by Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon."
https://www.thehenryford.org/visit/henry-ford-museum/exhibit...
BTW, they are not just destroyed. They are destroyed in a series of tests of the vehicle's countermeasures and protective devices against an array of potential weapon systems, boom boom kaboom. I got to see some components installed on the gun shock test rig at NTS in Fullerton CA, while I was there doing some unrelated vibration and shock testing on an aircraft system. Unfortunately I did not get to see the kaboom.
It makes me wonder what would have happened with the first Air Force One if not for a clerical error. I know older presidential limos are still around, but that's because they served more as a fashion accessory than as a security device.
SCIF = Sensitive compartmented information facility
Can the typical SCIF withstand RPGs and ATMs ? Asking for a friend.
It's a valuable opportunity to test the outgoing vehicles which are usually a previous iteration of new vehicles.
To me it seemed just like any older car, not anything special. Didn’t realize they are destroying most of them.
https://www.grunge.com/827864/what-happened-to-the-car-jfk-w...