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Beast mode on the open road: New presidential limo close to delivery

Signs of the Beast have been seen on the open roads around Milford, Mich., home of GM's Proving Grounds. The Beast, in this case, being the nickname for the next-generation presidential limousine. We've seen this car previously in spy shots while parked or driven, going back to January 2016. This is our spy photographers' latest look at the vehicle, and the first on public roads. Which may be a sign that it is almost ready for delivery. It replaces the current Beast, which has been in use since 2009. And "car" isn't exactly the right word for this rig, as it's actually a unique vehicle with Cadillac styling cues custom-built atop a medium-duty truck frame. There may possibly be more than one Beast 2.0 delivered, because two limos are sent anywhere the president goes, to provide a backup or decoy. The grille has touches of the Cadillac Escala concept car, which is heavily influencing Cadillac's evolving future look. But it's what's inside that intrigues everyone. Here's what we know, or at least has long been rumored, about the current Beast and the new Beast 2.0. 1. It has its own airplane. It and its twin follow the president around the globe aboard a C-17 Globemaster cargo plane. 2. It's heavily armored, with 5-inch-thick glass, 8-inch-thick doors that weigh as much as a commercial aircraft door, and its components include titanium, ceramics, and a bombproof plate that covers the underside. As such, the old Beast was estimated to weigh between 14,000 and 20,000 pounds. You can therefore imagine how it got its name. 3. It's equipped like the Batmobile or the Green Hornet's Chrysler Imperial Crown, with run-flat tires and night-vision gear. It can fire gas canisters out the front bumper. 4. It has a diesel engine because of its weight and size (see the gallery below for a sense of scale). And of course, diesel is less flammable in a firefight. The old Beast supposedly gets 8 mpg. 5. Its Secret Service codename is Stagecoach. 6. There's a shotgun by the driver and God-knows-what in the trunk. 7. It supposedly has a stock of blood in the president's type, along with a defibrillator and other emergency gear. 8. And it's pretty nice inside, by all accounts. Since this is not Trump's own personal vehicle and may well serve his successor, let's assume the gold leaf has been kept to a minimum and it's done up in tasteful leather and wood. But then again, who really knows, outside of the Secret Service and a handful of GM engineers.

Liberace's gilded Cadillac could be yours

With their chrome grilles and oversized wheels, it's hard not to notice a Cadillac these days. But this one is even more blingtastic on account of the 23.75-karat gold-leaf bodywork.
The 1931 Cadillac Golfer's Drop Head Coupé is said to have belonged to the inimitable performer Liberace, who didn't just have it covered in gold - he also had the exterior door handles plated in silver and the inside handles in 24-karat gold as well. It's also got a white leather interior and headlights that - well ahead of their time (if you'll pardon us, Mr. Tucker) - pivot with the steering wheel. All that bling is powered by a 5.7-liter V8 mated to a three-speed automatic transmission that pales in comparison to the seven, eight and even nine-speed gearboxes appearing on luxury sedans today.
The project was undertaken over the course of three years in the 1970s by one Jack Smith from Kansas. Smith (if that was his real name) sold it at auction in 1975, and it was most recently displayed for 12 years at a museum in Germany which claimed it was Liberace's own. The car is now going up for sale by Barons' at the Sandown Park horse racing track in Surrey, England, on September 17, when bidding starts at 85,000 pounds - equivalent to over $130,000 at today's rates.

Cadillac teases production ELR ahead of Detroit Auto Show

General Motors has just confirmed that the 2014 Cadillac ELR will make its official debut next month at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show. We've already seen the ELR testing earlier this year using the same range-extended electric drive system as the Chevrolet Volt, and based on the shadowy image above, we're happy to see that the coupe's styling has stayed pretty true to 2009 Converj Concept.
The two-door ELR will be built alongside the Volt at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck plant starting later next year. Aside from this info, Cadillac has remained tight-lipped on the specific details of the car. But all that will all change on January 15.
Until then, all we have to offer you is the press release posted after the jump.