The last car to carry U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy alive on November 22, 1963, a same-year model of Lincoln Continental, has found a new owner after being offered at auction.
The 1963 Lincoln Continental was included in a Presidential Experience lot at Bonhams, and was offered at auction in an online live event on October 14. The auction house expected it to fetch between $300,000 and $500,000 and the final price was on the margin: $375,000.
The Continental was one of the two automobiles included in the lot, but the only one to sell during the event. It was also the one item to fetch the most money, since another one with a higher estimate, a full-size display replica of the Boeing 707 converted and used as Air Force One, failed to sell.
The 1963 Lincoln was dubbed “Limo One,” but it was never part of JFK’s Presidential fleet. Instead, it was a loaner by Golightly Auto Sales, which the President and the First Lady used during their 2-day stay in Fort Worth, right before the trip to Dallas that would prove the last for the President. It was also the car they rode in to Carswell Air Force Base on November 22, 1963, before boarding the plane to Dallas, where JFK would be shot later that day.
Bonhams offered it with a new engine and restored exterior, but all-original interior, including the read leather seats. It also came with documentation attesting its history.
Another JFK car included in the lot, described as the President’s “personal” armored vehicle for driving around at the White House, failed to find a new owner. It was a black 1960 Lincoln Mark V limousine offered in unrestored and all-original condition.
The second highest-priced item in the lot turned out to be the Air Force One bomber jacket worn by the President, which fetched $250,075.
The Continental was one of the two automobiles included in the lot, but the only one to sell during the event. It was also the one item to fetch the most money, since another one with a higher estimate, a full-size display replica of the Boeing 707 converted and used as Air Force One, failed to sell.
The 1963 Lincoln was dubbed “Limo One,” but it was never part of JFK’s Presidential fleet. Instead, it was a loaner by Golightly Auto Sales, which the President and the First Lady used during their 2-day stay in Fort Worth, right before the trip to Dallas that would prove the last for the President. It was also the car they rode in to Carswell Air Force Base on November 22, 1963, before boarding the plane to Dallas, where JFK would be shot later that day.
Bonhams offered it with a new engine and restored exterior, but all-original interior, including the read leather seats. It also came with documentation attesting its history.
Another JFK car included in the lot, described as the President’s “personal” armored vehicle for driving around at the White House, failed to find a new owner. It was a black 1960 Lincoln Mark V limousine offered in unrestored and all-original condition.
The second highest-priced item in the lot turned out to be the Air Force One bomber jacket worn by the President, which fetched $250,075.