JFK files: First look at records open new questions
The National Archives released over 2,800 previously secret documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Here are some of the more interesting takeaways we know of so far from the first look at records related to Hoover, L.B.J. and Fidel Castro.
A Lincoln convertible that President John F. Kennedy rode in on the day he was assassinated is being offered for sale at the virtual Bonham’s American President Experience Auction on Oct. 14.
(Bonhams)
The white car was a stock 1963 Continental that was loaned to Texas Governor John Connally by a local car dealer to drive Kennedy through Fort Worth to Caswell Air Force base for their flight to Dallas.
The Kennedys and Connollys rode together in the SS-100-X through Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. (Getty Images)
This is different from the Lincoln Continental convertible limousine in which President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963.
The limousine Kennedy was shot in, the SS-100-X, was later equipped with a bulletproof roof and used during the Johnson administration. (Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
The SS-100-X, which remained in service until 1978 after being equipped with a bulletproof roof, is currently on display at The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, Mich.
Kennedy was driven through to Caswell Air Force base on the morning of Nov. 22, 1963. (Getty Images/Art Rickerby/Time & Life Pictures)
The car was later bought by a private owner, then changed hands several times until it was sold at auction to current owner Jim Warlick in 2013. It’s had its engine replaced and been repainted, but its red interior remains original. Bonham’s estimates its value up to $500,000.
(Bonhams)
A second Lincoln is also being offered at the event that has closer ties to the Kennedy White House. It’s a bulletproof hardtop 1960 Lincoln Continental Mark V Executive Limousine that also belongs to Warlick. This car was more of a workhorse than a parade vehicle, and was used to shuttle the president throughout Washington until it was replaced in the motor pool during the Johnson administration.
(Bonhams)
James C. Walsh, the person who first purchased it after its government use, said his wife insisted that he buy it.
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“The late president had been exceptionally gracious to our son … who had attended the White House School,” Walsh said in a testament from Walsh shared by Bonhams, who values it between $200,000 and $300,000.
“It is because of this association that I had the opportunity to meet the late president and to know in fact that he did use this car for his own personal use in contrast to the official use of the larger White House limousine.”