flight bound for
Dallas on the day of the shooting, he knew it was worth more than the $17,500
price tag suggested. Reznikoff is now selling the car on eBay for a firm $1 million, after spending
"in the six figures" to restore it.
"I look at it as the car that represented the end of Camelot,"
Reznikoff said, "because it's the last car he got out of alive."
The Lincoln is not to be confused with the blue limousine Kennedy was riding
in when he was shot, which is on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn,
Mich.
Reznikoff purchased the car at a liquidation auction when the
Tragedy in U.S. History Museum closed in St. Augustine, Fla. He heard
about the auction while visiting his mother there and hired a private
investigator to track down the paperwork to make sure the car was
authentic.
Reznikoff said the owner had no idea what the car was
worth.
"It basically sold for . . . what an ordinary 1963 Lincoln
convertible would sell for if it wasn't a famous car," he
said.
Whoever buys the vehicle will also receive a signed letter
from Fort Worth car dealer Bill Golightly, stating the convertible was
borrowed for a presidential motorcade through the Texas city on the
morning of Kennedy's assassination.
In the letter, Golightly wrote
that he sold the car in 1964 to David Pelham of Dallas. Later, Pelham
reportedly traded it to the museum for $5,000 and a 1964
Cadillac.
After buying the car, Reznikoff shipped it to Baker's
Automotive Restorations in Putnam, which specializes in Lincoln
Continentals. It took about three years to restore, Reznikoff said. The
engine was replaced and some paint and body work was also done, but most
of the interior, including the red leather upholstery, was left alone to
preserve the historical value.
"Everyone likes to say that I'm
sitting in the seat that JFK and Jackie were in the picture," said Steven
Ouellette, owner of Baker's, referring to a photo of the Fort Worth
motorcade showing Jackie in her hallmark pink pillbox hat.
Since
eBay listed the sale, which ends today, the page has received more than
21,000 hits. But Reznikoff said he doesn't expect to sell the car online,
and mainly placed it on the auction site to generate
excitement.
"You don't really expect a million-dollar item to sell
on eBay," Reznikoff said. "What we're doing is just letting it (be) known
that we have the car. . . . It reaches the largest audience and the
timing, with the 40-year anniversary, it's appropriate."
