kaorder1999
01-30-2007, 11:37 AM
JFK hearse to be sold
Car that took coffin to Love Field to be auctioned in May
05:44 AM CST on Tuesday, January 30, 2007
By MICHAEL E. YOUNG / The Dallas Morning News
myoung@dallasnews.com
The white Cadillac hearse earned its place in American history for a somber three-mile drive from Parkland Memorial Hospital to Dallas Love Field the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963.
Inside, a bronze coffin carried the body of President John F. Kennedy, his widow within arm's reach, his personal physician and a Secret Service agent nearby. Another Secret Service agent took the wheel.
The trip took 10 minutes, 10 minutes of an extraordinary and tragic afternoon.
The hearse, the first to roll off the assembly line for Cadillac's 1964 model year, remained in use for a few more years before being sold to a private owner in 1968.
But in May, it will be back in the public view, up for auction at a sale of rare and classic cars in suburban Houston.
"We think it will end up in a museum," said John Lyons, vice president of sales and marketing for the Worldwide Group, the auction company handling the May 5 sale. "Whether it will be bought by a museum or bought and donated, we don't know."
With a body built by the Miller-Meteor factory in Piqua, Ohio, the hearse arrived in Dallas in October 1963 for display at a national funeral directors convention, Mr. Lyons said. When the convention ended, the car was purchased by the O'Neal funeral home of Dallas, which provided hearse and ambulance services for the city.
"The owner happened to be at the hospital on other business when JFK was brought in," Mr. Lyons said, "and he called an office accountant and told them to put the nicest coffin they had in the brand-new Cadillac and bring it right over.
"He understood the gravity of what had happened."
Aubrey Rike, then a 25-year-old driver for O'Neal, witnessed some of the most touching moments that day.
In a Nov. 23, 1963, story in The Dallas Morning News, he described how first lady Jacqueline Kennedy sobbed as she removed her gold wedding band, gently placed it on her husband's ring finger, then bent and kissed his hand.
He helped put the president's body in the bronze coffin and carry it to a quiet room while officials made arrangements to release the body. Mrs. Kennedy went into the room, alone, sat in a chair and leaned on the coffin.
Later, Mr. Rike helped put the coffin in the white Cadillac hearse and helped Mrs. Kennedy into the back.
"When I helped her into the coach," he said, "she smiled and thanked me."
At the end of the flight back to Washington, D.C., a Navy ambulance picked up the president's coffin and carried it to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Md.
"At the request of Bobby Kennedy [the president's brother and attorney general], that car and the casket were destroyed," Mr. Lyons said.
Ardeen Vaughan of Alvarado eventually purchased the Cadillac and has owned it since, Mr. Lyons said.
"It was painted brown at one point and was later restored to the original color of white," he said. "The interior hasn't been touched."
In the 1 to 6 scale used in the high-end auto auction business – with 1 being a car suitable for parts with some missing and 6 being better than new – the presidential hearse rates a 4, Mr. Lyons said.
"It's a nice drive-quality car, what people call 'a 10-footer,' meaning it looks great from 10 feet away."
But condition alone doesn't set the price for something like this, he said.
"We know the question of price is going to come up," Mr. Lyons said, "but I really can't put an estimate on it yet.
"Basically, the talking point on that is this is the first time the hearse has been available."
Car that took coffin to Love Field to be auctioned in May
05:44 AM CST on Tuesday, January 30, 2007
By MICHAEL E. YOUNG / The Dallas Morning News
myoung@dallasnews.com
The white Cadillac hearse earned its place in American history for a somber three-mile drive from Parkland Memorial Hospital to Dallas Love Field the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963.
Inside, a bronze coffin carried the body of President John F. Kennedy, his widow within arm's reach, his personal physician and a Secret Service agent nearby. Another Secret Service agent took the wheel.
The trip took 10 minutes, 10 minutes of an extraordinary and tragic afternoon.
The hearse, the first to roll off the assembly line for Cadillac's 1964 model year, remained in use for a few more years before being sold to a private owner in 1968.
But in May, it will be back in the public view, up for auction at a sale of rare and classic cars in suburban Houston.
"We think it will end up in a museum," said John Lyons, vice president of sales and marketing for the Worldwide Group, the auction company handling the May 5 sale. "Whether it will be bought by a museum or bought and donated, we don't know."
With a body built by the Miller-Meteor factory in Piqua, Ohio, the hearse arrived in Dallas in October 1963 for display at a national funeral directors convention, Mr. Lyons said. When the convention ended, the car was purchased by the O'Neal funeral home of Dallas, which provided hearse and ambulance services for the city.
"The owner happened to be at the hospital on other business when JFK was brought in," Mr. Lyons said, "and he called an office accountant and told them to put the nicest coffin they had in the brand-new Cadillac and bring it right over.
"He understood the gravity of what had happened."
Aubrey Rike, then a 25-year-old driver for O'Neal, witnessed some of the most touching moments that day.
In a Nov. 23, 1963, story in The Dallas Morning News, he described how first lady Jacqueline Kennedy sobbed as she removed her gold wedding band, gently placed it on her husband's ring finger, then bent and kissed his hand.
He helped put the president's body in the bronze coffin and carry it to a quiet room while officials made arrangements to release the body. Mrs. Kennedy went into the room, alone, sat in a chair and leaned on the coffin.
Later, Mr. Rike helped put the coffin in the white Cadillac hearse and helped Mrs. Kennedy into the back.
"When I helped her into the coach," he said, "she smiled and thanked me."
At the end of the flight back to Washington, D.C., a Navy ambulance picked up the president's coffin and carried it to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Md.
"At the request of Bobby Kennedy [the president's brother and attorney general], that car and the casket were destroyed," Mr. Lyons said.
Ardeen Vaughan of Alvarado eventually purchased the Cadillac and has owned it since, Mr. Lyons said.
"It was painted brown at one point and was later restored to the original color of white," he said. "The interior hasn't been touched."
In the 1 to 6 scale used in the high-end auto auction business – with 1 being a car suitable for parts with some missing and 6 being better than new – the presidential hearse rates a 4, Mr. Lyons said.
"It's a nice drive-quality car, what people call 'a 10-footer,' meaning it looks great from 10 feet away."
But condition alone doesn't set the price for something like this, he said.
"We know the question of price is going to come up," Mr. Lyons said, "but I really can't put an estimate on it yet.
"Basically, the talking point on that is this is the first time the hearse has been available."