The white hearse used to transport President John F. Kennedy's body, following his assassination in Dallas, Texas, in 1963, has sold once again on the auction block, this time around for $160,000, plus a $16,000 buyer's premium.
The man who purchased it, according to the auction house I spoke to on the phone, plans to include it in his collection of about 400 other cars he owns.
The hearse was sold in January through the Barrett Jackson Auction Co. of Scottsdale, Ariz.
The 1964 Cadillac hearse carried Kennedy's body as well as first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, from Parkland Memorial Hospital to Air Force One at Dallas Love Field, for the flight back to Washington, D.C., on Nov. 22, 1963.
The hearse had been on display at a funeral home convention in Dallas in December 1965. After the convention, a funeral home in Dallas bought the hearse. It was that funeral home that was called upon to transport the president's body.
In the late 1960s, the hearse was bought again by a Texas man who owned several funeral homes in the Fort Worth/Dallas, Texas area. He kept the hearse in a private collection for more than four decades before selling it to the person who eventually put it up for auction.
The man who recently bought the hearse plans to turn his car collection into a museum, including a 1965 Rolls Royce that was custom made for John Lennon, including a taxi that was used in the TV show "Seinfield" and a Jeep that Frank Sinatra used on his ranch.
I'm sure today many of the older citizens in Washington County can remember specifically, seeing the hearse on TV, leaving the hospital and driving very slowly to Air Force One, and loading the casket on Air Force One, it was a very dramatic time in our lives, I sure know that.
Readers, I have several letters that you have emailed me, many of them do not have initials or where the letter is coming from. When writing please give this information to me. This column can be seen all over the country on the Marietta Times' website. I want to answer letters from the local area only. I do not have time or the space in this column to answer everyone's letters from different states and towns across the country. Please give a phone number also when writing, in case I need to ask a question on your item. Thank you. Please resubmit your letter.
Larry Koon is the author of several price guide books on antiques and collectibles. His column appears every Monday on Life. Send letters to Treasure in the Attic, c/o The Marietta Times, 700 Channel Lane, Marietta 45750; or e-mail him at koonantiques@yahoo.com. When writing, send a complete description of the item, along with size, color, any markings on the item along with condition the item is in, and how the item was obtained, and any other information. If possible, send a photograph. Letters will be answered through this column.
