Clinton receives first presidential hybrid

President Clinton will be the first U.S. president ever to use a hybrid outfitted for presidential service thanks to Ford, who will be presenting our 42nd president with a Mercury Mariner Hybrid "Presidential Edition" at the Clinton Global Initiative conference later this month in New York City. The Mariner Hybrid has been modified to include LED interior lighting, a 110-volt outlet and a writing table. Everything else on the vehicle, including the hybrid powertrain that delivers 32 mpg in the city, is supposedly stock. We say supposedly because most presidential vehicles are heavily modified with armor and other technologies to thwart assassination attempts. The LED interior lighting installed in Clinton's Mariner Hybrid suggests the window glass is either heavily tinted for privacy or has been replaced with a transparent armor similar to the kind used on President Bush's armored Cadillac DTS limo that's so thick it blocks natural sunlight.Speaking of presidential vehicles, did you know that the presidential motorcade is typically 35 cars long? A lot of gas could be saved by switching that fleet over to a next generation powertrain. Follow the jump to see what vehicles follow the president when he's out on the town and in what order.

Subaru-sanctioned Tribeca limo built by Boston dealer

Wow... um... just wow. Words don't do this stretch Subaru Tribeca limousine justice. It was reportedly built by Ernie Boch Jr., a powerful Boston area dealer that apparently has a penchant for long limousines. Before this he built a stretch Subaru Forester, which happened to be the catalyst for what you see above.

The story told on the North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club forum goes like this. Ernie was in Japan for a

meeting with executives at Fuji Heavy Industries, to whom he showed them his stretched Forester and then pitched his plan for an elongated Tribeca. They loved the idea and got the Tribeca's engineers involved, who then shipped plans for stretching the Trib's chassis to engineers at Subaru's plant in Indiana. The limo was then built right on the same assembly line as normal Tribecas. The interior, however, had to be done by a custom coachbuilder.

Apparently both the Forester limo, which we've heard has been sold to another dealer, and the Tribeca limo, are seen frequently around New England. It's a crying shame the updated 2008 model wasn't available at the time, seeing as its new 3.6L boxer six has more ponies and twist available to pull around the limo's extra metal. Of course, when you're in the back of a Tribeca limo, you want to go slow so everybody sees you, right?

VIDEO: Bush's limo breaks down in Rome, Italians giggle and point

Most people just have a spare tire or a can of fix-a-flat and an auto club card when they hit the road. But as we all know, they do things bigger in Texas, so when some guy from Texas goes for a drive around Rome, he brings along a spare stretch armored limo!As President George Bush and his entourage approached the US Embassy in Rome this weekend, his custom Cadillac DTS limo decided to pack it in. .After attempting to restart, Bush ultimately got out and walked through the embassy gates, later using the backup limo for the rest of his appointments.The video after the jump shows the crowd's reaction to Bush's limo breaking down, which was comprised mostly of laughter when the driver attempted to restart the car without success. Nevertheless, the President was cheered when he ultimately exited his stage coach and began to hoof it.

eBay find of the day: Mr. Duke, your limo is waiting

We always wondered if after a long day of filming "Hazzard", Bo and Luke drove that rattly Charger home every night. Surely they made enough money to buy a brand new K-Car or maybe even one of those awesome 1985 Shelby Chargers. That's sarcasm, by the way.But then, after a long day of jumping creeks and speeding away from Boss Hogg, the Duke brothers probably wanted to drive as little as possible. Too bad this 1995 General Lee Lincoln Limo came along 10 years too late. Also too bad it's half a world away in Ireland. Yeah, a General Lee Limo in Northern Ireland.But if you're into that sort of thing, it can be yours for a current eBay bid of £1,200. That's not a bad deal for a bright orange, 8-seat General Lee replica complete with "Dixie" horn and a Confederate flag on the roof.The description says obvious things like, "possibly the only one in the UK," and "This limo WILL get you noticed!!" but fails to mention whether the doors open, how well it soars over washed out bridges or if it will run on pure-grain alcohol. We recommend you bid at your own risk. Be sure to check out the gallery for even more photos from the eBay auction

Is there anything they won't stretch? VW New Beetle Limo

In recent years, the stretch limo business has migrated away from the traditional full size Lincoln and Cadillac sedans to trucks like Ford Excursions, Hummers, Escalades and Tahoes. The big body-on-frame SUVs make sense because they are pretty straightforward for manufacturers to stretch and reinforce. Some vehicles, however, just make no sense as a limo. In spite of being a body on frame truck, the Hummer H3 is narrow and cramped on the inside. The latest no sense limo started life as a 1999 Volkswagen New Beetle. At least this one doesn't need an extended driveshaft.

What young Hollywood wants for Xmas: The 6-door Prius limo

Most people looking to modify their Prius do so in order to extract even more fuel economy from the world's most popular hybrid. There undoubtedly aren't a whole lot of mechanically inclined Prius owners thinking limo, but thankfully for us there is one Canadian who did. The custom 10-seater was hacked at the middle, re-formed and re-stuffed, and welded back together. Sure, it seems as though adding considerable weight to a car specifically design with fuel economy in mind seems like a fruitless endeavor, but the man claims to still be getting 50 MPG. We'll believe the economy numbers when we see it. Meanwhile, it's only a matter of time before the designers at Citroen find out their C6 beauty has been duped.

Nice WHITE LIMO

Nice WHITE LIMO