All the presidents' cars

Obama's first car was his grandfather's Ford Granada. While a student at Harvard Law School between 1988 and 1991, he got around in a yellow Toyota Tercel. After graduating, Obama owned a Jeep Cherokee, but then moved into something more stylish: a Chrysler 300C. As his book "Change We Can Believe In" became a campaign slogan in 2008, Obama positioned himself for a run to the White House and moved to a greener, more politically correct set of wheels: a Ford Escape Hybrid.

View Slideshow:  Stars and Their Eco-Friendly Cars

Bush counts a sporty Triumph and an Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible among his earlier rides. While at Harvard Business School getting his MBA in 1973, Bush cruised the campus in an AMC Gremlin replete with Levi jeans upholstery. Today, Bush negotiates the trails in and around his Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford, Texas, in the one true vehicle of the Lone Star state, a white Ford F-250 pickup.

Read:  Pickups Aren't Just for Contractors

Clinton is a car guy. In high school he worked a summer at his father's Buick dealership. At Georgetown University, he ruled the campus behind the wheel of a 1963 Buick LeSabre convertible. Clinton also counted an AMC Gremlin and a Chevrolet El Camino among his steeds, but he is most famous for his 1967 Ford Mustang convertible. Clinton obtained the beloved aqua-colored pony car from his brother Roger while serving as Arkansas governor. He has said the Ford was the single hardest thing he had to leave behind when moving to the White House in 1993.

View Slideshow:  MSN's Ultimate Car Collection

The elder Bush's first car was a 1947 Studebaker Champ pickup. George Herbert Walker Bush recently made headlines when he purchased a $41,000 Volt as a gift for his son Neil. The purchase has been a politically charged powder keg for Republican politicians who have made the Volt the poster boy for all that is evil and wrong about the auto-industry bailout. It seems having a GOP standard bearer of Bush's stature buy an electric vehicle is akin to taking a torpedo in the engine room.

View Slideshow:  America's Most Fuel-Efficient Cars

The Gipper's first car was a 1934 Nash. Being a Hollywood movie idol meant Reagan could fill his garage with some sweet rides. He counted a 1946 Cadillac convertible, a 1965 Lincoln stretch limousine, a 1969 Ford station wagon and a 1976 Mercury Monarch sedan among his favorite silver-screen-era vehicles. One of our favorite Reagan pre-Oval Office vehicles is a 1952 Model M-38A1 Army Jeep that he received in 1972 as a 61st birthday present from wife Nancy. A favorite the Great Communicator drove during his second term as president: a red 1985 Ford Ranger pickup, which he tooled around his ranch near Santa Barbara, California.

View Slideshow:  Celebs and Their Classic Cars

The president from Plains, Ga., had a 1948 Studebaker as his first sweet ride. Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, took a cross-country road trip in the Studebaker in 1948. However, the 39th president is known for his preference for bicycles in lieu of automobiles. Heck, he shunned a presidential limo and walked in his inauguration parade. As president, Carter had a profound impact on the cars we drive today. Shortly after taking office in 1977, he created the Energy Department to counter the 1973 OPEC oil embargo, which eventually led to the creation of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards that mandated automakers produce more fuel-efficient vehicles.

View Slideshow:  22 Cars Americans Love Most

This Nebraska native's first car was a 1924 Ford Coupe. Prior to his stint in the Oval Office, Ford, not known as an overly exuberant personality by any means, owned some fairly high-strung cars, including a 1969 Ford Mustang and 1972 Jeep.

Read:  America Loves Trucks

Nixon was an Oldsmobile man: His early car ownership included a 1939 Oldsmobile, a 1946 Ford, a 1950 Oldsmobile and a 1955 Oldsmobile. The 1950 Oldsmobile Olds 98 is especially noteworthy because it was mentioned by name in vice-presidential candidate Nixon's famous 1952 "Checkers" speech, in which he denied accepting illegal campaign donations. "Checkers" was G-rated for sure. It lacked the true cutthroat, black-ops intrigue of Nixon's "I am not a crook" speech of 1973, in which he denied his involvement in the Watergate conspiracy.

View Slideshow:  What Vehicle Is Best for Your City?

Johnson was a car nut with an eccentric streak. He owned more than 50 cars, and while he had an affinity for luxurious cruisers such as Cadillacs, Imperials and Lincolns, it's a wild card called an Amphicar that is the most memorable. Produced from 1961 to 1968, the German-built Amphicar could also double as a boat. Johnson was quite the comedian and made a pastime of giving unsuspecting visitors rides in the oddly shaped convertible at his Stonewall, Texas, ranch. He would inevitably drive the Amphicar toward the ranch's fishing pond — while pretending the brakes were failing — and plunge nose first into the water. Then he would engage the propeller and motor across the pond to the obvious delight of his passengers.

Read:  Coming to America

Before narrowly beating out Nixon in the 1960 election, Kennedy owned a 1959 Pontiac convertible, but he was quite enamored with the new-for-1961 Ford Thunderbird, and acquired a drop-top version of the "Bullet Bird." He also requested that T-Birds take part in his inauguration parade, which put Ford in a tough spot; it was hard to find 25 unclaimed T-Birds because the new model was selling like hotcakes. The third-generation T-Birds captured the romanticism and glamour of the idyllic slice of the 1960s that became known as Camelot.

View Slideshow:  Most Influential Cars: The '60s

Eisenhower was a motorhead who also appreciated brave styling. He was particularly fond of the jet-inspired tailfins, modern midcentury design and Hemi V8 engine thumping under the hood of his official car, a 1956 Chrysler Imperial. He also owned a '58 Dodge pickup while in office. After leaving office he eventually settled into a posh 1968 Chrysler Imperial LeBaron.

View Pictures:  Trucks at Woodward

The car most associated with Truman represented a historic transition for America. The gray 1946 Ford Super DeLuxe Tudor sedan he received as a gift was innocuous enough, but the fact that it was the first car to roll off the famous Ford assembly line when production resumed after World War II made it special indeed.

Bing Images: Ford Super DeLuxe Tudor

Roosevelt the politician has one of the strongest presidential résumés. He confidently led the country out of the Great Depression and then vigilantly led it through World War II. Roosevelt the man was confined to a wheelchair because of polio, but as an accomplished wheelman he was able to express his freedom on the open road via his 1931 Plymouth PA Phaeton convertible. It was fitted with hand controls and, much to the chagrin of the Secret Service, Roosevelt regularly tore up the countryside near his retreat, the Little White House, in Warm Springs, Ga. He often gave interviews from the driver's seat of the Plymouth. Oddly, the fate of the car is unknown.

Evan Griffey served as an editor of Turbo & High Tech Performance, a pioneering publication about sport-compact tuning. Today Griffey freelances for Import Tuner, Sport Compact Car, Car Audio and Siphon.