The white 1963 Lincoln Continental convertible used during that fateful day in November is currently on display at the Frontiers of Flight Museum, 6911 Lemmon Ave., for a limited time only through this weekend. The car was used to transport President John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy and Texas governor John Connally from a breakfast and speech at the Hotel Texas ballroom through the streets of Fort Worth to Carswell Air Force Base, where they boarded their short flight to Dallas on the morning of November 22, 1963. This historical vehicle will be on exhibit through Sunday, Nov. 24, alongside the mock-up of the JFK Air Force One (with the brief exception of being out on Friday morning for ceremonial events). Visit www.flightmuseum.com.
This Friday morning, the car’s current owner Jim Warlick will be at what’s now known as the Hilton Fort Worth for a chamber of commerce breakfast commemorating the event Kennedy attended 50 years ago. He’ll join two men who were with Kennedy that day who will be honored on the anniversary: then-U.S. Rep. Jim Wright and Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent who jumped onto the back of the president’s limousine seconds after the fatal shots.
After the breakfast, he’ll take the white Lincoln convertible back to the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Dallas’ Love Field. There it will join an exhibit with his 47-foot replica of Air Force One, a Boeing 707 fuselage he refurbished to mirror Kennedy’s plane in 1963.
Back in November 1963, the Lincoln Continental was loaned out by Bill Golightly, of Golightly Auto Sales in Fort Worth, for use by the president while he was in town. The automobile has been painstakingly restored by Lincoln specialist Baker Restoration of Putnam, Connecticut, with the engine having been replaced and body work and paint done as well. Most of the interior, including the red leather seats, is in its original condition.
After the car was returned to Golightly, it was sold to David Pelham of Dallas in 1964. Pelham in turn sold the car to L. H. Hough, owner of the Museum of American Tragedy, in 1967, “for $10.00 and other valuable consideration,” where it remained until the museum closed in 1998 after Hough’s death; it was then sold at public auction. The car is accompanied by a notarized letter from Golightly stating he owned the car and sold it to Pelham in 1964. Also included is the bill of sale from Pelham to Hough, dated July 20, 1967, as well as other ownership documentation, including a partial 1972 agreement for the Allstate Exhibit Company to display the car for 15 weeks.
Numerous photos from that morning show the Kennedys in this car, Jackie dressed in her pink Chanel suit and pillbox hat, driving through Fort Worth and arriving at the base. Used as an official vehicle to transport the First Couple, this car was given the designation of ‘Limo One,’ and became the last automobile to safely carry Kennedy before his tragic death in Dallas, making it a historically significant and one-of-a-kind piece marking the end of Camelot.
Special admission prices for this engagement: $10 for Frontiers of Flight Museum members, $12 for non-members, and $7 for children 3-17 (under 3 admitted free). Regular prices apply for Museum admission only. Visit: www.flightmuseum.com.