Thursday, January 10, 2008

Rides of Heads of State (Part 19)

For a while, I thought I had exhausted all of my research sources. But thanks to google news and babelfish (French to English), I was able to squeeze out a few more rides.

120. Jamaica. Last year, an investigation revealed that tens of millions of dollars were spent outfitting public officials with brand new SUVs. But to my surprise, Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller is still riding in the Volvo S80 assigned to her in 2004 when she was the Minister of Local Government. Kudos to her!

121. Ecuador. The young-ish, and toothy, Correa rides in a Nissan Patrol.

122. Gabon. When an Excalibur just doesn't scream "cheese" enough, you get a Stutz Royale. Behold, President Bongo's ride.

123. Dominica. This small Caribbean republic has a population of barely 70,000. No wonder in such a small and poor country, the prime minister drives an old Suzuki.

124, 125. Guinea, Ghana. Mercedes S-Class.

126. Namibia. Land Cruiser.

127. Kosovo. Just like Taiwan, Palestine, and the Vatican, Kosovo is not a member of the U.N. However, in a few weeks' time, it will declare independence from Serbia. Hopefully, no violence will ensue. This morning, I saw the new prime minister step out of his black Touareg on BBC News.

Updated tally:
S-class: 44
7 series: 14
Land Cruiser: 10
A8: 8
Maybach: 6
Phaeton: 4
Caddy: 4
Holden-Chevy-Opel: 3
G-wagen: 2
Jag: 2
ZIL: 2
Volvo: 2
Touareg: 2

One of each of the following: Lancia, Hyundai, Skoda, A6, Peugeot, Renault, Lincoln, VW van, London taxi, Daimler, Suburban, Toyota Century, Hongqi, Bentley, Rolls, Ford Fairlane, Aston Martin, SEAT, Mitsubishi Montero Sport, Hummer H2, Ford Expedition, Nissan Patrol, Stutz, Suzuki

CKY

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi, great site!!! Thx for compiling this list, it's a lot more comprehensive than some other sites I've seen out there. Just to add, some others now drive Lexus:

Prince Albert II of Monaco:
http://www.motorlegend.com/actualite-automobile/albert-ii-en-ls-600h/2036.html

That eccentric President of Iceland:
http://www.visir.is/article/20070707/FRETTIR01/107070148/-1/FRETTIR

Also the official state car of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Donald Tsang, is an LS 600h. It's listed on several websites, here's a pic:
http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/news/20070627/img/sn12062702_big.jpg

The first prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kwan Yew, also switched to a Lexus GS:
http://www.mywire.com/pubs/AFP/2006/05/25/1596514?&pbl=222
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VorZljrg7BY

And recent Japanese PM Shinzo Abe has been driven in an LS 600h at the official residence, and the vehicle was also used in his meetings with cabinet members, which was shown on a BBC World segment about specific parliamentary meetings several months ago.

Just some more variety in a world of exec state cars!!!