Rides of Heads of State (Part 4)

The United Nations currently has 192 member states. Then there are the two non-members, Taiwan and the Vatican City. That's 194 cars and SUVs, belonging to their respective leaders.

What started out as a curiosity for me has transformed into a mission. I will do my best in researching and presenting the cars of every head of state in the world. I've got a long road ahead and I may very well cut and run before the mission is accomplished. But I feel a surge coming.

17. Before I go on to today's theme-- Mercedes S-classes for those who really need it-- I want to acknowledge the outgoing (and probably incoming) prime minister of Italy, Romano Prodi. Unlike his billionaire, rightist, and vain predecessor, Silvio Berlusconi, who rode in a Maserati Quattroporte, Prodi chose something much less flamboyant. Because of his more modest constituency (his fragile coalition included the socialists and the Greens), Prodi rode in a Lancia Thesis. The Thesis is a midsized "luxury" car that is woefully underpowered and outclassed by its competitors. With all that Italy had to offer, Prodi showed a lot of conviction and character in choosing this third rate "executive" saloon. Bravo!

18. Georgia. We now turn to the theme of today's blog. In my African piece, I argued that leaders there chose Mercedes to show off their wealth and to basically give the impoverished, diseased, and oppressed people they ruled the middle finger. Today, I will discuss leaders who truly need armored, powerful Mercedes because they literally need a portable vault in which to commute. Being President of Georgia is a dangerous job. Being a pro-Western, pro-NATO president in Georgia is even more dangerous. That is why President Saakashvili rides in a W140 S-class Mercedes.

19. Philippines. Being the leader of an Asian banana republic with a brewing Muslim insurgency is also a dangerous endeavour. Like her counterpart in Georgia, President Gloria Arroyo has a W140 packing a V12 carting her around. Because both countries are not exactly rolling in dough, both leaders showed restraint in not replacing their rides with the new W220 or even newer W221 S-class Mercedes. No, that would be too Marcos-ian.

20. Pakistan. Someone who knows a thing or two about assassination attempts while riding to work is Pervez Musharraf. Within a span of two weeks in 2003, Musharaff's W140 Pullman saved him twice. On the first attempt, the W140's jammer delayed the detonation of a roadside bomb. Eleven days later, two suicide bombers blew themselves up, only to slightly crack the W140's windshield. Now that's executive protection!

21. Ukraine. When sinister forces try to surreptitiously poison you with massive doses of dioxin, you need a car that will act like a lead cocoon. That's why when Victor Yushchenko, a successful banker with a penchant for Stuttgart's best, became prime minister, he opted for an S600. The orange revolution and Benz have been closely intertwined ever since.

CKY