The United States Secret Service has started the process to begin to build the next generation presidential limousine with the posting of a contract proposal on the FedBizOpps.gov site for companies seeking to do business with the federal government. The contract will be awarded by the Dept. of Homeland Security by August 29th of this year and the new armored limo, no doubt equipped with the latest and highest tech communications and security gizmos, is planned to go into service in 2017, after Mr. Obama’s replacement takes office.

According to the proposal, the award “will be made based on best value to the government,” and will be “restricted to Major Domestic U.S Automobile Manufacturers, who have their primary headquarters located in the United States of America.”

There are four phases to the project and Phase 1, armor development, has already gotten underway. “Phase 2 work will include integration of the armor design developed during Phase 1 of the program. Phase 2 requirements will include selection and integration of final automotive components, chassis, interior, exterior, and test vehicle fabrication and automotive component testing. Phase 3 will be focused on automotive validation and Phase 4 production of vehicles,” said the proposal.

A variety of manufacturers have supplied limousines to the U.S. president. General Motors has provided Cadillac branded vehicles for the past three decades, though Lincolns carried chief executives from John Kennedy through Ronald Reagan.

Whilen the medium truck based “Cadillac” nicknamed “The Beast” that President Obama uses for state occasions is better known, he also frequently travels in what is probably an equally well-armored Chevy Suburban.

Sources: U.S. General Services Administration, Detroit News. Presidential limos photographed at the Henry Ford Museum.

Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, a realistic perspective on cars & car culture and the original 3D car site. If you found this post worthwhile, you can get a parallax view at Cars In Depth. If the 3D thing freaks you out, don’t worry, all the photo and video players in use at the site have mono options. Thanks for reading – RJS