President Truman
This is a 1947 photo, taken at New York's LaGuardia Airport with President Harry Truman on board. The "Sunshine Special" was constructed for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on a massive, 160 inch wheelbase 1939 Lincoln Series K V-12 chassis. In the wake of America's entry into World War II, the Ford Motor Company fitted one-inch thick glass, a wire mesh top lining, self-sealing tire tubes and steel armour plate that was supposedly capable of stopping a .50 caliber machine gun bullet fired at point-blank range. 1942 front-end styling, with the headlights and parking lights integrated into the fenders, was added at the same time, establishing a precedent for how expensive White House vehicles were kept contemporary looking. This car cost $8,348.74 to build in 1939 (Brunn's work cost $4,950), and another $30,000-or-so to armour and equip with updated front end styling in 1942.
Having been retired in 1950, it's now displayed at the Henry Ford Museum as part of America's largest collection of former Presidential vehicles.
The above info and photo from Gregg Merksamer.
I'm just wondering - wouldn't the Secret Service men's hats blow off in the wind?
