My wife and I got a personal tour of The Beast in 2004 during the election season. We were attending a Wilderness First Responder training at Buckley AFB at the Civil Air Patrol’s offices there. The class was held upstairs in a very large early Cold War hangar. When we came in we were ushered immediately up the stairs by our instructor and told not to go onto the hangar floor. Upon topping the stairs, we saw why: the entire preidential motorcade was there under guard by one Secret Service agent sitting at a table. We had our class and afterward one of the guys in class, who was in the USAF Security Forces and happened to be in uniform as he had been on duty earlier, suggested that he approach the agent to see if we could get a tour. To our surprise, the agent agreed and they waved us down. No pics allowed. The poor agent was sick as a dog with flu but he was super nice and let us look around both of the Beasts (there are two identical cars) and swing the doors. The doors are incredibly thick and heavy as Simon pointed out. The agent told us the “glass” was something like 5” thick obviously bullet and blast resistant polycarb. Perhaps the coolest part was looking around the chase vehicles which I believe consisted of 5 Chevy or GMC Suburban type SUVs, also somewhat up armored. I could see their comm gear and MP5s stowed inside. We most definitely did not open the doors on those vehicles. The one we couldn’t look inside was the jamming vehicle that carried that goofy looking antenna on top. That one is used to jam cell phone and other frequencies to prevent remote-detonated IEDs. We asked the question... where are the keys? Expecting there to be some ultra high tech solution to “keys” we were surprised to find out that they kept the keys on the little pigtail antenna on the rear of the vehicle. The idea there, he said, is that a) the vehicles are under live guard always - even when parked in their vault at Andrews AFB - so theft isn’t a concern, and b) they never have to ask who has the keys. Maybe this is all an elaborate ruse, but that’s what he said and we could see keys hanging there. Anyway we were not permitted to sit in The Beast because, well, we are the unwashed masses and they can’t have us farting up the presidential limo, right? It was a badass experience and I thank that agent, who went WAY beyond the call of duty - especially while sick, for being so kind and showing us around.
@@dannydaw59 The Ford F-550/E-van (one w/ black dome on roof) will drive along the motorcade; only when you're on the phone, the communications will go staticky and warp your voice.
Yeah i actually work there! We have one of Teddy Roosevelt’s carriages, the car FDR used, the car harry truman used, the car that JFK was shot in, and the car Reagan used.
I remember when Obama came to the Netherlands, he flew in on helicopter, the whole Dutch airspace was closed off and missile batteries were on stand by to shoot any violators down. Meanwhile, our Dutch minister-president arrived... On his bike
@Mustache Merlin Depending on when this election finishes, we'll probably intervene with what's happening in Armenia and Azerbaijan. Most likely leading to even more enemies...
Well, our minister is a nobody, liked by nobody, and Obama was the leader of most powerful country in the free world. Hardly the title Rutje would be awarded. Unless you mean free as in 'gratis'.
He he ... the difference between a world leader that is hated by many people and a leader that is respected by his country. I can just say - imagine if it was G.W.Bush or D.Trump.
What you neglected to mention was that after the attack on Pearl Harbour, the Secret Service wanted the limo to be bullet proof. While it was being armoured, the president needed to get to congress for his iconic infamy speech. So the secret service used Al Capone’s car, which had been confiscated years earlier.
My toyota yaris is defended by a nest of wasps. The nest is either in the driver side mirror or under the hood, all attempts to find it end when they start swarming.
I actually have electrified door handles on my W220 S-Class.. it makes for a mildly entertaining night on the south and west side of chicago.. especially when Trump Pence 2020 decals in all the windows... Had to apply a non stick coating to the front bumper though... What better way to test Diamler's designs for pedestrian safety??
'The beast comes equipped with smoke screens and oil slicks as defensive measures' Well, I guess he's safe from any cartoon characters that may want to attack
One Beast rumor I love is that when a Beast is retired, one of that series will be taken by Secret Service and they'll see what it takes to destroy it with artillery.
I'm thinking is gone by the time they get to 155mm. I'm sure it can withstand small mortar fire and maybe a couple hits from a Mk19, but as soon as they get to the 155mm, game over.
@@Ratkill9000 I mean, there's quite a bit inbetween that may be used too...I'd be curious how it would hold up to a ~25mm anti-aircraft/tank cartridges. You know the kinds of stuff ISIS/Taliban/Al Qaeda loves to strap to the bed of a Toyota Hilux and bomb around the desert. And just for funsies, how about the GAU8 and it's tank busting 30mm rounds...give it the old BRRRRT
@@dclark7703 if I may, I think the ISP thing is because they host the giant servers that you connect to, so technically, if you had what they had, you wouldnt need one..it would just be pointless cuz of the money needed
Megaproject Suggestion. Longest deep bore ice core in Antarctica. Took years, loads of drama with it and they found some cool stuff like a fresh water lake under the ice containing previously unknown lifeforms. Would go Well with the other hole projects that are popular Speaking of deep holes, how about the Kidd Mine as well?
1:50 - Chapter 1 - A true tank of a car 2:40 - Chapter 2 - Beastial history 7:15 - Mid roll ads 8:55 - Chapter 3 - The end of the top down 10:05 - Chapter 4 - Into the modern era 11:50 - Chapter 5 - The latest beast 13:40 - Chapter 6 - Fortress on wheels
There were a few instances bouncing between Cadillac and Lincoln where it wasn't quite right. I'll give it a pass because the videos are always great, and mistakes will happen.
And focus part of the video on the whole conspiracy part. Like the Americans wanted it's Titanium for the Lockheed A-12, and in fact ended up with Lockheed.🤔
Simon: I have a channel called business blaze, it's rarely about business though. It's fine. No need for a second channel for non-business blazes Also Simon: This project might not be mega enough. I need a second channel for it **makes Sideprojects** Also Also Simon: "Welcome to a Megaprojects that might not be a megaproject" - still puts it on megaprojects and not sideprojects You ok over there Simon?
It is almost as if he had been better off with one mega RU-vid channel with separate subject playlists. LOL! His next channel will be Knitting Projects, wherein he will never, ever finish a knitting project, but go on and on about new patterns.
I think he's running low on that good old Columbian pure. He's probably rationing it so he only has so much organizational work he can do in one day. Allegedly...
A Megaprojects suggestion: The _McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle,_ having first flown 48 years ago, it is still in service to this day. Outliving many other military aircraft along the way and still very highly effective. I feel it may prove of great interest, and the American part of your audience will love it.
The B52 is also a timeless aircraft and still on the top ten list of the world's most dangerous aircraft. As a young man in the late '50s and early '60s, my father would take us out near the airbase close to the runways' end to watch the B52's take off on SAC patrols. Each was armed with nuclear weapons. The A10 Wart Hog is going to be another one that will persist; it already has. I have a cousin, retired now that flew the A10's and of course, he loves them. My father, while in the "Army Air Corps," flew P51's as fighter support for the B17's bombing Germany during WWII. He also flew the P47 on missions to destroy supply trains. Of the two planes, he favored the Mustangs but liked the P47 calling it a killing machine with the 8 50s in the wings and how easy it was to drop bombs on target with the power of the P&W 2800 double Wasp to climb out of harm's way quickly.
When I went to Washington D.C. for a field trip a number of years ago, I seen these “Beasts” in a motorcade. We were told it was the vice president’s motorcade bc it didn’t have an ambulance. Pretty cool to see, you’ll get maybe 5-10 seconds to see the motorcade bc it goes so fast but pretty cool to see.
That was a 2006 edition from the Bush era. The 2009 version vehicle would not have got stuck. They switched and started commercial medium duty class 6 truck chassis. The protection demands became so high that they had to stop using heavy duty consumer pick up truck platforms and switch to commercial medium duty platforms. You’re looking at a vehicle that is a bit more than twice the weight of Bill Clintons 1993 Cadillac Fleetwood.
@@andrewday3206 it was actually , they brought it over specifically for the visit and we had to listen to them going on and on about how great all the American security and equipment was, thats why it was so hysterically funny !
You should do a video on The Beast (Roller Coaster) at Kings Island. It is the world’s longest wooden roller coaster coaster and has been for over 40 years. It’s a very large and interesting wooden structure.
When I turned 16, I went to DMV in Florida to take the test and get my drivers license. When I was paying for it, the girl at the counter explain to me that they had just started with separate motorcycle driver licenses and as there was no test as yet, I could have one for $4 more. Which I did. Moving to four other states and now another country, each DMV passed on my motorcycle licenses as I already had one. So now owning and driving motorcycles for over 45 years without knowing how to parallel park them. ;-).
Excellent overview of all the vehicles...thanks! As for an idea on a megaproject, how about the San Fransisco cable car system? I had the chance to check this out a few years back and the entire cable system is extraordinary...even the way the cars use the cable and their brakes for the insane hills. Keep us posted!
Living in DC I see the beast quite a bit, when I worked in Dupont I would see Chaney every day in it flying up Conn. Ave to his home. It's a pain living here sometimes, in other cities you don't have the "I'm late because of a motorcade" problem.
I have so many suggestions for a Megaprojects video, I have a passion for History in general, and Historical Buildings and Bridges, I love watching the American Experience series, I would like to suggest 1) The Rise and Fall of Pennsylvania Railroad Station in New York the most, or 2) Grand Central Station or the 3) Brooklyn Bridge, or lastly for now..lol, the 4) World Trade Centre Twin Towers, which ever you believe would be most popular for your viewers.
My grandmother learned to drive in the 40s, getting a license after two 30 minute lessons. She was 4'11" and could barely see over the steering wheel lol.
I love the way you say “military grade’ as a positive. I can tell you military grade means cheap, not actually going to save someone’s life because all governments take military contracts to the lowest bidder. Rockhound from Armageddon has a great quote.
An often misunderstood concept. There's no such thing as "military grade." There's military spec, which just means the military lists a requirement and the item either meets it or it doesn't. As for the "made by the lowest bidder" BS, yes, the military will buy the least expensive thing that does what it needs to do. You don't drive a Veyron, do you? I mean, it's a great car, but it it worth it to own one if you never need to drive faster than 90mph? That doesn't mean that less expensive cars aren't good. In most cases they're better. Better for hauling the kids around, picking up groceries, etc. You know, the things you actually need a car for. Yes, the military could bankrupt the country by building just one incredible fighter, that they'd then never be able to use for risk of losing it, and it wouldn't be able to do as much as ten less expensive jets. But it makes more sense to look at the task at hand, decide which tool you need to accomplish that task, then buy the required number for as little as possible. Because the tasks the military has are usually far more difficult than the average organization would ever have to deal with, the specs the military has for those tools are usually quite stringent. So yes, "military grade" usually means "The least expensive version of this really good thing."
The Beast: Can resist bullets, can run on flattened tyres, can survive explosions, can get stuck on a slight hump outside Buckingham Palace, the berk... :P
It was not a switch back to General Motors from Cadillac! Cadillac is owned by General Motors so saying that it switced back to GM from Cadillac doesn't make sense. The Chassis of the Beast is actually a GMC Top Kick/ Chevy Kodiak truck.
@@lordgarion514 That doesn't really matter. The cars that GM provided for the president have been Cadillacs. So the statement that it "switched back to GM from Cadillac" still doesn't make sense.
@@Rascofresco11 A 3500 general motors Silverado chassis could not handle the armor requirement and the weight. Think Silverado 6500 medium duty commercial truck. Similar to the Topkick GMC 5500s. Just more GVWR rating and suspension enhancements such as airbags for ride quality.
That's one of the cool things about living near Washington DC. I have seen several motorcades with various Presidents going by all over this area. I also worked downtown and was walking to work and passed within 2 blocks of where Reagan was shot - AS HE WAS BEING SHOT. I had no idea what was going on as all the action happened after I walked by (there was so much noise bouncing off the buildings I never heard anything unusual). It was interesting to see the changes around the area when I walked back to the Metro after work.
definitely a Megaproject for the amount of work that that's gone into the evolution and design over the years. topic suggestion for a Megaproject? nanotech.
no pun intended actually. the advances and work that's gone into nanotech over the last few decades in unreal. molecular sized machines manipulating individual atoms? bloody amazing.
Ha ha, I've been there years ago. First thought: I know that, why did they choose that place for traffic. But it makes sense somehow. :-) It's a really beautiful city you are living in!
I was active duty USAF military officer detailed to support President Reagan’s team when he was at Ranchi Del Cielo. It was because of the decision to fly and not drive him for “local” visits. The decisions to fly came from one of his early trips via motorcade from his mountain top ranch. The ranch, Rancho Del Cielo, is high up in the mountains north of Santa Barbara, Ca. The road to and from the ranch is a typical mountain roadway, a twisting, winding two lane narrow road. After a trip down from the ranch, the motorcade vehicles had used up most of their breaks, largely because the vehicles were just so damned heavy. So they decided to fly the President, via helicopter rather than using ground transport. This may give you an idea as to just how heavily armored and equipped the Presidential vehicles are. Thank you for this video.
Two Megaprojects Suggestions: 1. The BLM Helium Reserve. The US Government operated a massive helium reserve in Texas due to their strategic interest in Helium as a resource (critical for Cryogenics including MRIs, Research, Magnets, Fiber Optic Manufacturing, Welding, Scuba diving and Leak Detection). 2. Formula 1 Cars. No, they're not as durable as the Beast, but it takes several billion dollar companies with hundreds of employees each to build 2-4 cars per year, and the crash structures designed to protect a driver from a 200+MPH collision and survive are very much what I would consider a "Megaproject."
Idea for a ‚Megaprojekt‘ video: the World Scout Jamboree - An international scout camp happen every 4 years in a different country, where more than 40‘000 kids from all over the world meet... the planning and organizing of this event are largely done by volunteers over multiple years. I think that’s quite an interesting mega project!
I wondered about that, so I paused and Googled it. Type "fdr and al capone's Cadillac; truth or myth" into your search window and find the story was complete fiction; Capone's car was a 1928 Caddy, FDR's was probably a 1940 Cadillac. Besides, Capone's car was in the UK from 1933 until 1958. I was hoping the story was true; how about you? It would certainly be a nice turnaround! Stay safe.
Now that we're on to cars, can we have the Bugatti Veyron in the near future? Pretty sure it's a megaproject of its own, as it's basically Volkswagen AG's peak tech demo
Leasing Agent: "Umm.. Sir, this car have been modified. It has heavy armour and machine gun mounts and bullet proof glass, we are not gonna like what you did." Some Guy in Chicago: "I'll buy it, I'll in, I'll pay cash. How much you want?" Some Guy in New York: "I'll pay double." Some Guy in Philly: "Car. At my garage. Tomorrow. Or else."
My uncle Charles F Bersch also worked on one of the presidents limo’s. After Kennedy was shot he was part of a project that developed, to my understanding, the first bullet proof glass. This was right around the time I was born and didn’t even hear of this until I was an adult. I’d love to share more but I don’t know the facts well enough.
@@frankvadnais3536 think my grandfather worked in carters, I have a model at my house but I'm not there right now. Ill try and find it when i get home. Think it had the presidents name
The Quabbin Reservoir may not be the biggest, but when it was conceived & built in the early 20th century it definitely had an impact. Insuring a stable water supply for greater Boston meant clearing 4 small towns out of the way, right down to the cemeteries. You should consider doing this as a video soon.
As a side note, another documentary detailed the 24 hours after the Pearl Harbor attack. One item discussed was that the secret service used Al Capone's car (impounded earlier) to deliver FDR to the capitol building to deliver his "Infamy" speech.
The reason why there are many presidential cars and why they take them to state visits in foreign countries is that the President and his staffers need a secure place to discuss the issues without any fear they will be bugged. These vehicles are guarded so that no unauthorized person can get anywhere near them. Many times the cars just sit inside the cargo aircraft waiting for use, they don't even take the cargo straps off them. Keeping them inside the plane also isolates the car from laser listening devices. Another interesting item of note is that the President has a pusher diesel RV fully equipped to Secret Service specs.
This is said to be the safest car on American streets, but I'm sure that even The Beast has a weakness of it's own that even the secret service hadn't thought of fixing.
I've heard (somewhere) that it carries its own "oxygen tanks" for combustion of its own fuel. This would probably help it drive away from any oxygen-deprived environment, which is often the case after certain kinds of bombs go off (the ones that require oxygen to combust.) The car itself is only 10% of the story. Following (and preceding) the Beast is the veritable army of support staff that travel with it and a massive list of procedures that are followed for any trip. I won't mention the little that I know here, in the interest of security. And I'm also amazed by the portable "tent tunnels" built (i think) by the US Army Corps of Engineers for particularly dangerous route segments, usually in certain hostile countries.
I’ve always had a sneaky admiration for the massive soviet-era square-cut ZIL limos, which appeared to be based on 1970s Detroit land yachts. Moscow even had dedicated ‘ZIL lanes’ so the party leaders didn’t have to share the roads with the hoi-polloi.
YES, I’ve been waiting for a mega project about a car. Suggestion, you could do a lot of mega projects about famous race cars or super cars. For example looking into the engineering of the Bugatti Veyron or something similar to that.
For years I thought all zoos were free to get into because the Zoo st Louis Missouri is free but its only like one of 2 ,whoever founded it set up massive trust to keep it free forever ,is san Diego the other one
