The U.S. Secret Service is looking for a new vehicle that's capable off-road and less conspicuous than a Chevy Suburban.
Car and Driver interviewed top officials at the Secret Service and GM Defense who shared some insight about the parameters of such a vehicle.
While the Secret Service is keeping its new multi-terrain vehicle a secret, we have some ideas about possible platforms.
The United States Secret Service is in talks with General Motors Defense for a new platform of protective vehicles. That's according to Secret Service director Sean Curran, who recently spoke with Car and Driver during an exclusive interview. Along with giving the Secret Service more mobility off-road, the new vehicles could do more to blend in than the armored Suburbans it currently uses.
A Suburban Substitute
In addition to the famous presidential limousines, the Secret Service’s current lineup is made up of armored Chevy Suburbans as well as pursuit SUVs, which look like the sort you’d see from your local state patrol.
New vehicle development is a never-ending process between the Secret Service and GM Defense. “You know, we do it based on the terrain, based on the threat environment, and just our needs,” Curran said.
Without looking to get too deeply into specifics, Curran pointed out that the new platform would be something the Secret Service uses when the typical parade limousine (a.k.a. The Beast) doesn’t make sense. He pointed to Africa as a place where the new vehicle would blend in better than the typical armored Suburbans, which stick out like a sore thumb in some countries.
No More Monster Garage
Before GM Defense began heavily investing in armored vehicles, it was common practice for government agencies, including the Secret Service, to buy cars off dealer lots and cut off body panels. They’d then weld in armor throughout the car and bolt it all back together. The downside of that process is that it would take vehicles designed for civilian use and weigh them down with thousands of pounds of armor they weren’t designed to carry.
GM Defense president Stephen S. duMont refers to those models as “Monster Garage” builds. In an interview, he told us they were often slow to accelerate, and once they got going, very hard to bring to a stop. Now, GM Defense can work hand-in-hand with the Secret Service to build dedicated cars from the ground up.
To Be Continued...
As the Secret Service prefers to keep its cards close to its chest, director Curran kept enough ambiguity to avoid specifying exactly which platform he’s working with GM Defense to build. That leaves open three likelihoods. The Secret Service could be in the market for something similar to GM’s Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV), which is based on the Chevy Colorado ZR2 platform. It could also be looking at GM Defense’s Light Utility Vehicle (LUV), which the company builds on its HD truck platform. Lastly, the two organizations could be working on an entirely new platform that hasn’t been revealed publicly yet.
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