Kennedy hearse at Barrett-Jackson 2012

Piqua Daily Call

Received an email yesterday from a reporter at the Piqua Daily Call, who caught wind of the story and contacted me through the Miller-Meteor Chapter's website. When I called him per his request, we had a nice chat about Miller-Meteor, although we did not get into too much detail about whether this is the "actual" hearse or not.

http://dailycall.com/main.asp?SectionID=86&SubSectionID=164&ArticleID=176855
 
PIQUA - An iconic white hearse that solemnly transported the slain body of President John F. Kennedy and a grieving First Lady from the hospital to a Dallas airport will soon being going to the highest

more like a frantic wild ride driven by a USSS agent bent on getting there as fast has he could. this pretence by people who were not even born yet always amasses me. but then if your after the big bucks describing a one time trip B'sss to the wall with the only thought being (hope this thing holds together long enough to get us there) might not be what you want to lay out.

the moments for decorum were gone that day all the people in charge of the safety of others wanted to do was gather everyone up and get the H out to Texas as fast as they could

the only reason this car was used was because it happened to be sitting there after delivering the casket. had they dropped off the box and left some other form of transportation would have been commandeered on the spot.
 
Yeah, except they weren't driving fast because they were having fun. They were in a hurry to get out of there and get somewhere "safe". Someone had just murdered the President - and that hadn't happened in more than 50 years. The new President was still in town and had to be protected adn removed. They had to get both of them back to Washington as fast as possible. This was the height of the Cold War. Was this an enemy attack? Was more coming? For once, I don't blame them for being "in a hurry".
 
I should've emphasized the "stole it" part...body and casket as well as the '64.

Of course they were in a hurry! I believe the USSS was doing everything possible to cover up their involvement in - if not outright orchestration of - the assassination. Why did the limousine's driver slow down instead of accelerating when the shots were fired, as he was trained to do? Why did they - again, the USSS - do everything possible to keep the body away from the Dallas ME? Et cetera, et cetera, and so forth.

The body left the hospital wrapped in sheets and in a casket, but arrived at Bethesda for the "autopsy" in a body bag inside a shipping case. Where was the switch made? The wounds described by Aubrey Rike do not match the ones listed in the autopsy report. Were the wounds surgically changed to make it look like JFK was shot from the rear rather than from the front, as the original wounds indicated? And what about that "magic bullet?"

Will we ever know the truth? I hope so. My opinions are based on years of interest and study. Those that are interested in the truth should really read Mr. Rike's book.
 
:stop: If anyone wants to discuss conspiracy theories, this forum is not the place. Please stay on the original topic. You can discuss conspiracy theories in the off topic forum if you like.
 
Steve Lichtman in the news

www.baltimoresun.com/features/sns-lat-kennedy-hearse-for-sale-101612-story,0,6298598.story

For sale: Hearse that carried John F. Kennedy's body in Dallas

Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

6:03 PM EST, January 16, 2012

An auto auction company in Scottsdale, Ariz., plans to sell a 1964 Cadillac hearse that company executives say transported the body of President Kennedy after he was assassinated in Dallas. The car was used to take the body from Parkland Memorial Hospital to Love Field Airport, where Air Force One was waiting to return it to Washington.

The Barrett-Jackson company has posted photos of the hearse on its website, along with a history of the vehicle.

The hearse was the first 1964 model built by Miller-Meteor Co. of Ohio, and it was the show car at the National Funeral Directors Assn. convention. Funeral home director Vernon O'Neal purchased it there in October 1963, a month before the assassination.

In the late 1960s, the O'Neal funeral home went out of business, and the hearse was sold. About a decade later, the title passed to Arrdeen Vaughan, now a hearse dealer in Texas. Vaughan restored the hearse and put it up for auction in 2007 at the Lakewood Yacht Club in Seabrook, Texas.

Vaughan set an asking price of $1 million, and stuck to it, turning down a bid of more than $900,000.

When the hearse was put on the block again in 2009, the high bid was only $165,000 and was not accepted. The current owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, is being represented at this week's auction by Mesa, Ariz.-based Desert Autosport.

"It is titled to us and we have copies of the previous titles," the owner says on the auction website.

Until recently, the hearse was listed on eBay for $1.5 million, according to a post on the Antique Automobile Club of America's website. Barrett-Jackson has no asking price set for the hearse, meaning there will be no minimum starting bid.

The Times spoke with Steve Lichtman, who serves on the board of directors of the Lafayette, N.J.-based Professional Car Society. The association has about 1,200 members, many of whom have been awaiting the auction of the hearse.

How do we know this is the actual hearse that transported Kennedy's body?

We have kept track of this car over the years. People have seen it; they know that it has the correct serial number. Various members of the club have seen it, and the history is correct. We know who has owned it and where it has been.

Does it look the way it did back then?

A collector -- a member of our club -- owned it after the second funeral home painted it a brown, sort of a dark gold color, and he repainted it white and restored it in the 1990s.

There was some debate when this same car auction company sold an ambulance that it said had transported Kennedy after the assassination. Some people believed the real vehicle had already been destroyed in a junkyard. Was the ambulance authentic?

Unlike the hearse, the ambulance was government-owned, and we had to track down its ultimate demise. There was ample evidence that the ambulance had been crushed and destroyed.

How did you confirm that?

We contacted the Sixth Floor Museum [in Dallas] for archival information on both vehicles. Last year, we also contacted the Kennedy Library, which had signed affidavits.

When I spoke to the woman there, I said, "What would seal the deal is if we had a picture of the ambulance in he crusher." She said, "Give me 15 minutes," and it was in my inbox.

Who ended up buying the ambulance?

It was bought by a museum and put on display in Grand Junction, Colo.

But you're pretty convinced that the hearse is authentic?

Members of the club have photographed the hearse over the years. This really is the correct car. I'm willing to say when it's wrong, but also when it's right.

How much do you think people will bid for it?

It's hard to say the value. The value that is going to come with it is the value that people place on a collectible that relates to President Kennedy's assassination.

There's nothing to compare it to. It's going to be a wait-and-see thing what the value is.

Will the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination make a difference in terms of the hearse's significance to collectors?

I'm not sure. There are a lot of us that feel this is sort of a morbid reminder of the assassination. It may be something that people may not want. But clearly there would be antique car museums interested.

What happened to the convertible Kennedy was riding in when he was shot?

The convertible is at the Henry Ford museum in Michigan. It was modified after the assassination by the Secret Service with a hardtop roof.

This article first appeared at latimes.com

Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times
 
That was quick. I spoke with the reporter from the LA Times yesterday, and her article was based on an earlier article from Consumer Reports. Although she misspelled Oneal, she basically got the story and the interview information correct.
 
Interesting Tidbit

Here's an interesting bit of history, sent to me by Gary Mack of the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas. We have talked several times, both about the ambulance last year and the hearse this year.

This is the obituary notice from the Dallas paper, placed by Oneal, Inc.
 

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Well, Barrett-Jackson started up last night. I watched but did anyone see the M-M or anything about it? I never seen it sitting anywhere or heard anything about it last night when I was watching.
 
I saw it once in a quick shot that panned across the cars that were in line to be auctioned. The only reason that I recognized it is the long roof stood out..
 
Kerry and I were both at the auction yesterday. The M-M is being displayed in the main tent with all the other high end or high profile vehicles that will run through the auction on Saturday. There is a security guard stationed full time at the hearse, so that no one can climb under or over the chains to get a closer look. The one thing that stood out to both of us was the poor job of repainting the crinkle roof. It looks like a gloss white paint was just sprayed over top of whatever was originally on there. Maybe the florescent lighting didn't help, but it looked terrible.
 
Terry Lange:

There is a security guard stationed full time at the hearse, so that no one can climb under or over the chains to get a closer look.


Having a security guard by the hearse is likely to crate a "image" of this car being worth a lot of money.

It could be to keep the "PCS basement bloggers" away from it too !
Although no need to this time.

I think Tammy will try to get this one to put beside her FAKE one.


I guess we will wait and see !
Darren
 
There is a security guard stationed full time at the hearse, so that no one can climb under or over the chains to get a closer look.

Thats there just in case any of the internet basement bloggers show up and try to get a better look at the car!!!:blahblah::657::1062:

And every time I seen Steve Davis on the screen I can't help but give him the "ole Tennessee salute"!:horsepoop-1::puke2:

Like Mother said "I can't help it!":boo:
 
I'm not even going to watch most of it. I might pull it up on-line Saturday night to see what happens when the hearse comes up. Last year, the on-line version of the ambulance auction was much better than the clips I saw of the Speed TV show.
 
Ironically, there really was no reason for them to bring up the ambulance at all. I think it's actually an honor that they mentioned the questionable history of the ambulance. They know we know. The only ones for whom it was unproven were Steve Davis and Tammy Allan (the lady who ultimately bought the car). The rest of us know the truth.

Question, though: was Arrdeen Vaughan really an employee of O'Neal's???
Did Tammy Allenactually purchase said Ambulance, or did she purchase it on the behalf of Barret -Jackson to get the contoversy over and done with, We will never know - will we.
 
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