Car Talk With Hilary Clinton: Secretary Of State Hasn’t Driven A Car Since 1996; Says Her First Car Was A 1963 Oldsmobile Cutlass

Automotive dealers from across the land closed their annual expo with a keynote address from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who fielded questions from participants, discussed the growing employment numbers at auto dealerships as a plus for young Americans and praised Mary Barra at General Motors (NYSE:GM) for becoming the first woman to head an automotive company.

“I guess you could say she broke through the steel ceiling, not the glass ceiling,” Clinton was quoted as saying in a tweet from Detroit News reporter Karl Henkel, referring to Barra, 51, who was named as Daniel Ackerson’s replacement last month as head of the world’s second-largest automaker by sales.

Clinton also addressed the bailouts of GM and Chrysler, which cost taxpayers a combined $11.8 billion excluding the rescue of GM’s financing arm, saying they were costly and necessary. They “look like they’re in a position to survive,” she said, according to a live tweet from Automotive News.

Clinton was speaking to thousands of auto dealers at the final day of their association’s annual convention. The former first lady also offered up these nuggets about her relationship to automobiles.

#1.) Perhaps most telling: The head of U.S. foreign relations and the Democrat frontrunner for the 2016 presidential contest says she hasn’t driven a car since 1996, according to a tweet from Detroit News D.C. bureau chief David Shepardson. Here's the video:

#2.) Clinton’s first car looked like this:

She said her second car was a Fiat that was stolen and crashed.

#3.) Clinton said her father loved the “barges” of the 1950s and 1960s, namely Lincolns and Cadillacs.

#4.) She said her husband Bill was a GM guy who used to drive a burnt orange version of this:

Later Bill picked up an El Camino.