Has there ever been a US president more closely associated with a particular car than John F. Kennedy and the fourth generation Lincoln Continental? Both have since become icons of the 1960s. Now you can own an actual piece of Camelot, as two Lincoln Continentals associated with Kennedy are coming up for auction at Bonhams (and no, not that Lincoln: The limousine he was riding in when he was shot remains firmly in possession of the Henry Ford Museum).
Numerous items up for auction include full-size replicas of Kennedy’s Oval Office and Air Force One fuselage, as well as the rotary telephones from the presidential suite at Hotel Texas form which Kennedy purportedly made his last telephone call. But we are here for the cars – if you are curious about the other items for sale you can visit the link at the end of the article.
All photos courtesy Bonhams
First up is Chassis 3Y86N409953, a 1963 Lincoln Continental convertible finished in Ermine White. What makes this car interesting is that it is the last car JFK safely rode in before the limousine in which he was fatally shot. There are numerous photos documenting John and Jackie Kennedy riding in this car on the morning of November 22, 1963, including several in this post.
Interestingly enough, this car was not owned by the US Government or the Secret Service, which is why it is in private hands today. Rather, it was owned by local auto dealer Bill Golightly who loaned to the Secret Service for use by the President. Presumably, he just grabbed a car off the lot and tossed the G-Men the keys. It would be difficult to imagine the President riding around in someone else’s loaner car in this day and age.
This example appears to be fairly well equipped, sporting many of the available options in 1963, including air conditioning ($504.60), tinted glass ($53.65), and the new for 1963 AM-FM Radio ($84.70).
JFK in “Limo One” on November 22, 1963.
At some point in the vehicle’s history, renowned Lincoln restorer Baker Restoration repainted the car and replaced the engine, but the red leather interior was wisely left untouched and is said to be original to the car. “Limo One” is expected to fetch between $300,000 and $500,000 when the gavel falls.
The second car is a 1960 Lincoln Continental Mark V Executive Limousine that served as Kennedy’s motorcade limo for “Personal Uses.” While the car most commonly associated the Kennedys is the fourth generation Lincoln Continental (specifically the 1961 to 1963 models), this older style Continental actually would have been his “daily driver.” These 1958-60 generation Continentals are not for everyone, with their wildly canted headlights, but they do have their fans, including me.
As with the convertible, the exterior of this car is heavily restored, while the interior has been left in its original condition. As is typical for formal cars of the era, the rear seat was covered in wool broadcloth fabric, while the driver sat on leather seats.
Check out all that A/C plumbing
This 1960 Lincoln, which already had a bonkers dual left-right evaporator A/C system from the factory, sports a third unit mounted in the trunk for extra cooling in the back.
Unfortunately, my Google search for photos of Kennedy in this car came up empty, which is probably one of the reasons it is expected to sell for less than the convertible (that and the lack of a Dallas connection). Kennedy’s Mark V is expected to sell for $200,000 to $300,000.
Both cars last sold at auction in October of 2013, where the Mark V fetched $210,000, and the Convertible gavelling for $318,000. The Bonhams auction starts at 1:00 PM on October 14, 2020. All proceeds will benefit The Worker’s Legacy Project in Burke County, North Carolina.
Related Reading
The American Presidential Experience Auction Site
Curbside Classic: 1965 Lincoln Continental – The Last Great American Luxury Car
Automotive History: Fourth Generation Lincoln Continentals Used In Official Roles.
The A/C really dominates that car, in the passenger area and the engine area. Seems to be a plenum on the left side of the engine compartment, feeding both the A/C and the carburetor? A backfire through the carb (not uncommon on Ford V8s) could have been interesting.
There were many dealer-furnished cars used in the motorcades throughout the San Antonio-Houston-Fort Worth-Dallas trip in 1963, including the gray 1964 Lincoln Continental convertible in which LBJ was riding two cars behind the President’s limousine in Dallas.
I own a few hundred books about the Kennedys and I cannot recall ever having seen pictures of JFK riding in that 1960 Continental. But if he used this car primarily for personal, unofficial trips around the DC area, e.g., to their leased country estate in Glen Ora or Camp David, there wouldn’t be much if any official photography of those trips. Apparently it was a White House motor pool car and perhaps not used that much by JFK himself:
https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/a1941051/two-cars-kennedy-history-cross-block-next-week/
Indeed. Although the car in the photograph is andorned with presidential flags, I doubt it displayed those in actual use. Back in the day, the car was likely rather nondescript. And who would be able to get a clear photograph of him in the back if Kennedy was actually riding in it? It’s just a frumpy old Lincoln, and not a modern, svelt Continental convertible.
The guy sitting next to JFK in “Limo One” is Wernher von Braun.
Our Germans are better than their Germans.
Possibly from a photo taken on November 16, 1963 when President Kennedy was visiting Cape Canaveral and consulting with von Braun?
There is a space center just up the road from Dallas in Houston (now called Johnson Space Center). Perhaps von Braun swung by for a visit (although von Braun did most of his work out of Huntsville space center).
I do not believe Dr. Von Braun was in any way part of the Texas trip. They were on a very tight schedule and all of it is well documented. The only space-related visit of the trip was to the Aerospace Medical Health Center, Brooks Air Force Base outside of San Antonio, the first stop of the Texas trip on the afternoon of November 21. From there they departed for Houston. President Kennedy and Mrs. Kennedy gave separate speeches at the Rice Hotel in Houston on the evening of November 21. Later in the evening JFK gave a speech in honor of Congressman Albert Thomas at the Houston Coliseum. From there they departed for Fort Worth for an overnight stay and two speeches by JFK on November 22, one outside the Hotel Texas and another for an indoor breakfast at the hotel. From there on to Dallas.
I believe this photo is from an earlier, different trip – either the previous week at Cape Canaveral or one of the several other times JFK met with Dr. von Braun.
A buddy of mine has an Imperial convertible that was in LBJ’s inauguration parade. It’s visible at 2:03 into this video.
He bought it from a retired Secret Service guy in very nice condition, but gave it to a family member who left it under a tree for a couple decades before returning it to him. Now it is in pretty terrible condition, but it has a freshly rebuilt 413 and 727 plus it has been converted to disc brakes.
That black 60 is really intriguing. The roofline on these formal sedans and limos are interesting – I used to prefer these to the standard roof with the Breezeway window, but now I have changed my mind.
Interestingly enough, the 1963 was fitted with 15″ wheels and tires when JFK used it. How do I know? The 1964-’69 wheel-covers. Those 1963 Lincolns came standard with 9.50 X 14″ tires, wheels and the 1962-’63 style wheel-covers which won’t fit the 1964 15″ wheels
Has there ever before or since been such a huge aesthetic improvement from one generation of a car to the next?
The 1982 and 1983 Thunderbird comes to mind.
A Lincoln article with a Halter byline is always a must read! Thanks for bringing us this bit of Lincoln history!
JFK had an affinity for Ford products, his last personal car being a 1961 Thunderbird convertible. Ford Co. products dominated the Secret Service fleet at this time, as Robert McNamara, recent Ford president and JFK’s new Sect’y of a Defense, arranged for Ford vehicles to be leased to the government for a nominal fee. Even the infamous dark blue Lincoln Continental of Dallas lore was Ford Co. property and reverted back to Ford after its government service was over. It is on display at the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn.
I recall reading that before the presidency JFK owned a Continental Mark II and a 2-seat T-Bird.
I wonder if his wife Jackie had a affinity with Chrysler products? She used a 1960 Ghia Imperial limousine. http://imperialclub.com/~imperialclub/Yr/1960/Kennedy/index.htm