Check Out Obama’s New Ride

President Elect Barack Obama is a big supporter of Hybrid cars, and shortly after taking the oath of office he will have what some are calling the ‘Mother of All Hybrids’ - part car, part truck and, from the looks of it, part tank.

Like recent tradition, the Secret Service will place a brand-new presidential limousine into service January 20 to drive the new president on the 2-mile jaunt down Pennsylvania Avenue during the inaugural parade.

Spy photos of the limo,with patches of gray primer which will be painted all black, have leaked out. And already, the reviews go something like this:

“Ugly as sin,” says one car enthusiast on an auto Web site. “Can’t we make a hotter ride for our pres?”

“Sheesh,” says another, “why don’t they just transport the president around in an Abrams tank.”

One news agency, noting its 8-inch-thick doors, says the limo can withstand a “direct hit from an asteroid.”

But GM spokeswoman Joanne K. Krell laughed off the comments.

“And it will fix you a latte if you ask,” she jokes.Krell added that the new presidential limo is a Cadillac although it is “not a direct textension of any single model.”

“The presidential vehicle is built to precise and special specifications, undergoes extreme testing and development, and also incorporates many of the top aspects of Cadillac’s ‘regular’ cars — such as signature design, hand-cut-and-sewn interiors, etc.,” Krell told CNN.

“Cadillac is honored to serve and renew this great tradition,” she said. “And it is entirely appropriate that an American president has at his service a great American vehicle.”