The Prime Ministerial Limousine is the

official state car An official state car is a vehicle used by a government to transport its head of state or head of government in an official capacity, which may also be used occasionally to transport other members of the government or visiting dignitaries from ot ...

used by the

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

. The current vehicle is a white

BMW 7 Series The BMW 7 Series is a full-size luxury sedan manufactured and marketed by the German automaker BMW since 1977. It is the successor to the BMW E3 "New Six" sedan and is now in its seventh generation. The 7 Series is BMW's flagship car and is on ...

. The prime ministerial and other ministerial limousines are maintained by COMCAR, a subdivision of the Department of Finance. The vehicle is often referred to in the media and the community as "C1", which is the number plate that the car displays (meaning "Commonwealth 1"). The

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is centrally mounted on the bonnet of the vehicle. Prime ministerial vehicles are transported and used wherever the prime minister travels. The vehicle is stored at Parliament House, the Lodge, Kirribilli House or an allocated COMCAR facility. While COMCAR administers the vehicles, they are driven by

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

officers.

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

was the first prime minister to use the BMW 7 Series. The past model of prime ministerial limousine, the

Holden Caprice The Holden Caprice is a full-sized car which was produced by Holden in Australia from 1990 to October 2017. The similar Holden Statesman, which was also introduced in 1990 as a model below the Caprice, was discontinued in September 2010. Betwe ...

, was first used by

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...

, replacing the Ford LTDs that had been used in the 1980s.

Current vehicle

The prime ministerial fleet was updated in 2014, replacing the Holden Caprice fleet with a suite of armoured BMW 7 Series models. The $6.3 million (AUD) fleet of BMW 7 Series were purchased initially by the Australian Government to protect visiting dignitaries for the 2014 G20 summit in Brisbane, and were later commissioned as the official prime ministerial fleet. The limousine, manufactured in Germany, has undergone extensive mechanical and protection-based modifications including armour and bulletproofing. The prime ministerial state car and a supporting armoured

BMW X5 The BMW X5 is a mid-size luxury SUV produced by BMW. The X5 made its debut in 1999 as the E53 model. It was BMW's first SUV. At launch, it featured all-wheel drive and was available with either a manual or automatic gearbox. The second generatio ...

is administered by COMCAR, a division of the Australian Government's Department of Finance, and driven by trained officers of the Australian Federal Police.

Protection specifications

The vehicle has the same visual appearance as a regular BMW 7 Series. However, it has been subject to extensive modifications. The limousine has been fitted with bullet-proofed doors and windows as well as armour on the floor of the vehicle. On top of this, the vehicle has a protected fuel tank that does not explode when damaged and can withstand a roadside bomb. The

off-the-shelf Off-the-shelf may refer to: * Commercial off-the-shelf, a phrase in computing and industrial supply terminology * Government off-the-shelf * Ready-to-wear * Shelf corporation, a type of company * Off the Shelf Festival, a festival of writing and r ...

replacements for the older

vehicles offer greater protection and better value for money. A

BAE BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...

and GM-Holden

Consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for ...

also unsuccessfully bid for the contract.

Previous prime ministerial limousines

Ford LTD (Australia) Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

* Mercedes-Benz 450SEL *

Bentley S3 The Bentley S3 is a four-door luxury car produced by Bentley from late 1962 until 1965. The S3 was very similar to the S2, with the most-visible exterior difference being a four-headlamp layout reflecting that introduced on the Rolls-Royce S ...

Gallery

File:Prime Minister Rudd vehicle 1.jpg,

of Prime Minister

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...

, April 2008. File:Prime Minister Rudd vehicle 2.jpg,

escort vehicle to the left of the Holden Caprice. File:Prime Mininster Rudd vehicle 3.jpg, The prime ministerial Holden Caprice is on the left. File:Prime Ministerial Limousine (Australia), Petersham, NSW.jpg, Current Commonwealth 1, as used by the Australian Prime Minister (August 2022)

References

External links

{{Commons category, Automobiles of heads of government of Australia
COMCAR website
– ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'', 6 August 2005
Julia Gillard's clunker limo has windows that won't wind down
– ''

News.com.au news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport. Staff The organiza ...