Why the US president's car The Beast needs to be destroyed every eight years

After Jay Leno was given the chance to see the US President’s Car, The Beast, he learnt a lot of secrets about it from the Secret Service, including the fact that it needs to be destroyed every eight years.

Destroying a whole car every eight years might feel a bit extreme, especially when it’s a very expensive Cadillac, but there seems to be more than one reason why.

Somehow, the ex-late-night talk show host managed to get a 26-minute video out of talking about a car they couldn’t really talk about. But from the information we’ve gleaned, there are four reasons it must be destroyed.

Of course, in eight years, this article will need to be destroyed for similar reasons, so it’s best to read it while you still can.

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The US President’s Car, ‘The Beast’ is a custom Cadillac design, probably most comparable to a Cadillac XT6. But comes with Cadillac Escalade-style headlamps and a grille similar to the Cadillac Escala concept car.

It really is just a tank disguised to look like a normal Cadillac limousine, and it’s hermetically sealed against biological warfare.

The Beast even travels around with a fresh supply of the President’s blood type just in case something happens.

But perhaps the most interesting thing that Jay Leno found out is the fact that decommissioned presidents’ cars are completely wrecked every eight years

“No, sir. They are destroyed,” The Secret Service agent told Leno when he asked if they were donated to a museum.

The most obvious reason that The Beast needs to be destroyed periodically is due to secrecy.

The Secret Service can’t let the intricacies and details of how the car is built get into the hands of adversaries who might misuse the information to find a weak spot or learn the best way to take the President out.

Another reason is that eight years is a long time, but in car manufacturing, it’s a lifetime. So the Beast needs to be refreshed every eight years or so to keep it relatively up-to-date with the best technology and security features.

When the car is destroyed, it’s presumably done by the Secret Service, so agents can get an idea of how a potential attacker might try to attack the car and thus train themselves to know the countermeasures.

Probably the main reason the car has to be destroyed is so that no one can reproduce it. Which would cause confusion if the unauthorized replica somehow made it into the official motorcade.

The current iteration of The Beast first hit the streets of the US in 2018, so it looks like next year will be the end of this particular glorified tank. But oh, what a glorious beast it was.

Just like the US President’s car, this article will self-destruct in five, four, three, two…

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