The other matter is the definition of Head of State. In reality, the individuals I have identified with the cars are all Heads of Governments. If they are in fact Heads of State, it is because in their respective nations, such as the United States, the leader is both the Head of State and the Head of Government.
One surprise so far is the fact that not a single leader has chosen a Lexus LS as his/her car of choice. Maybe I'll uncover one later.
A running tally of the cars listed thus far can be found at the end of this post. Enjoy.
47. Bhutan. King Wangchuck (I'm not making this up) is humble, respected, and popular. He drives a Land Cruiser, like many of his subjects. A true man of the people.
48. China. Because China has a burgeoning auto industry, Hu has no choice but to ride in one of China's own. Hongqi (Red Flag in Mandarin) has been making cars for the Communist elite for decades. Its latest flagship is an ugly amalgam of a Lincoln Town Car, South Korean technology, and Chinese craftsmanship. Yeah, it's that bad. The factory website boasts, among other things, the limo's remote control trunk and fuel door openers. Yikes.
49. India. Prime Minister Singh is a down-to-earth, shy person. When he came into office, he insisted on keeping the Hindustan Ambassador as his official car. But his security detail got its way. He now rides in a bulletproof BMW 7-series.50. Japan. Japanese prime ministers and industrialists all ride in Toyota Century's. Understated blandness best describes these three-box saloons.
51. Mexico. Felipe Calderon, who has to deal with narco-traffickers, leftist guerillas, and pissed off schoolteachers, has the protection of a Suburban.
52. Monaco. Albert has a fleet of automobiles at his disposal. But for official ceremonies, he rides in the Daimler shown below. Businessweek, which published this photograph, misidentified it as a Bentley. So much for fact checking.
53. Norway. The Norwegian PM rides in this 760Li. The previous PM's 7-series, built to NATO armor specifications, never saw any miles on Norwegian roads because its weight exceeded the safety threshold.
54. Finland. The Finnish PM, like his Norwegian counterpart, rides in a 760Li.55. Tonga. The eccentric king is known for his adoration of military uniforms (especially pith helmets) and his black London taxi. To each his own.
56. U.S.A. Bush toots around town and the world in this modified Cadillac DeVille. There are dozens of blogs, websites, and news stories about the car, so I won't bore you here.
Tally thus far:Merc S-class- 15
BMW 7 series-6
Land Cruiser- 4
Phaeton- 4
Maybach- 3
A8- 2
G-wagen- 2
Holden- 2
Jag- 2
ZIL- 2
One each of: Hyundai, Lancia, Skoda, A6, Peugeot, Renault, Lincoln, VW van, Caddy, London taxi, Daimler, Suburban, Toyota Century, Honqi
CKY
5 comments:
From this list most of all I was interested in Chinese limo. Looks not so original and beautiful, but Chinese should start to produce their own Limousine with V12 engine. Probably 20 years later this brand will be popular. Who knows.
Actually, there are a few countries that use Lexus LS'. Hong Kong's chief executive uses a new LS460L. Iceland replaced their old Cadillac wiah a new LS600hL. Japan's PM bought a LS600hL to use it alongside the Century. Monaco's king used a LS600hL as a day-to-day car. Norway's king used a LS600hL and Singapore's president is still using an old LS430.
Actually, there are a few countries that use Lexus LS'. Hong Kong's chief executive uses a new LS460L. Iceland replaced their old Cadillac with a new LS600hL. Japan's PM bought a LS600hL to use it alongside the Century. Monaco's king used a LS600hL as a day-to-day car. Norway's king used a LS600hL and Singapore's president is still using an old LS430.
Thanks for your updates! Please allow me to explain my methodology. First, because Hong Kong is not a UN member, I did not include it in my list. The only exceptions I made were for the Vatican, Taiwan, Palestine, and Kosovo. Second, the cars I have listed were current as of the time of the blog postings. Third, many heads of state/government use several cars. I arbitrarily chose one out of the many for each head. Fourth, when a country's head of state and head of government are two different people, I post the car I find first. For example, in Norway's case, I found the PM's ride before the king's ride; hence, I posted the PM's car rather than the king's. Finally, I did mention in Part 7 of my series that old Lee Kwan Yew still rides in an old Lexus.
Cheers.
Just to add, the Chinese president is only seen in the Hongqi for special occasions. For day-to-day transport he uses a Mercedes S-Class or a BMW 7-Series. And the president of Finland and India both use a Mercedes S-Class.
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