Prius One

The SMH motoring section reports on the baddest truck around.

President Barack Obama will not be riding in a locally-made Holden or Ford for his Australian visit. Instead he will be chauffeured in his custom-made, heavily armoured limousine, which is known in Secret Service circles as The Beast...

It is bullet-proof, bomb-proof, capable of withstanding chemical weapon attacks, and is guaranteed to stop traffic, because it travels as part of a motorcade that usually involves more than 20 police and security vehicles...

Beneath the stately looks the limo earns its nickname. It is reportedly built on the chassis of a GM truck, powered by a fuel-guzzling 6.6-litre V8 diesel engine.

That may not sound impressive, the engine packs more pulling power than a V8 Supercar. It needs all that grunt to haul around the weight of the added measures designed to protect its passenger from more than your average fender bender. Fuel economy is 29.4 litres per 100 kilometres - more than seven times thirstier than a Toyota Prius.

Mr Obama revealed last year that he wanted the car to be a hybrid, but even the President, and the unofficial head of General Motors, could not get his dream car. "I asked can we make these cars hybrids," he told a meeting. "Secret Service said no. Now the reason is not because Secret Service are bad guys. It's because these cars that I'm in are like tanks."

Should be enough to protect him from this woman.