Welp, right here we’re once more. Each 4 years the nervousness, horror and glory of our electoral system performs out, and yearly I believe the identical factor: I ponder what sort of automobile the brand new (or previous) president will use? There are such a lot of completely different autos which have transported the Commander-In-Chief round this nice nation of ours, however the first one which springs to my thoughts within the 1961 Lincoln Continental Presidential Limo.
This automobile has at all times loomed giant in my childhood because it is among the first reveals you see once you enter the Henry Ford Museum. Whereas there are a number of presidential autos lined up within the very entrance, this automobile has a particular pull, as it might be probably the most consequential automobile in the entire assortment. This Lincoln was carrying President John F Kennedy the day he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.
This automobile is wonderful to me for a lot of causes. First off, it was a low slung convertible with suicide doorways which, hell yeah, are at all times cool. I’ve at all times beloved late ’50s, early ’60s American land yachts, and Kennedy’s limo was a yacht for the ages. Usually, such a automobile would price a civilian the princely sum of $7,347, however the Ford Motor Firm leased the Lincoln to the White Home for the nominal charge of $500 a month earlier than sending it off for $200,000 in retrofits to make it prepared for President Kennedy.
Nevertheless it’s not simply the basic automobile bona fides that I really like about this Lincoln. I’ve at all times been a morbid little shit and this automobile was the scene of one of the vital well-known murders in American historical past; a world-changing assassination that will have lasting repercussions for generations. After which, whereas on what should have been my 1,000,000th go to to the Henry Ford Museum, a docent advised me the limo was haunted, and that sealed the deal for me.
Such limos take years to construct from scratch — years that Kennedy’s successor, Vice President Lyndon Johnson, didn’t have. The Lincoln was cleaned up and retrofitted with extra bullet-proofing, a strong roof, black paint (the navy blue reminded People an excessive amount of of their fallen president) and “the most important in-vehicle air conditioner ever constructed,” in response to the Dallas Morning Information, all to the tune of $500,000. Johnson continued to journey round within the limo and it stayed in service via President Richard Nixon’s administration and into Jimmy Carter’s first 12 months as prez. All advised, the limo stayed within the presidential fleet for 13 years following Kennedy’s assassination.
Simply the truth that it carried 4 presidents throughout one of the vital necessary and tumultuous instances in our nation’s historical past is purpose sufficient to present it the crown of most presidential automobile, however it’s actually not alone. There’s the Cadillac DTS Presidential State Automotive utilized by Bush and Obama, or the present Beast loved by Trump and Biden. You possibly can even go the opposite approach, with autos merely owned by presidents. Lyndon Johnson appreciated to scare of us utilizing his Amphicar Mannequin 770, and who may neglect Biden’s basic 1967 Corvette Stingray?
Ought to the long run president decide a completely new type of automobile? Ought to they stick to the Caddys which were utilized in the previous couple of many years? Tell us within the feedback under.
