This bulletproof 1964 Imperial Crown Ghia Limousine has a fascinating history. It was first used by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, including in her husband JFK’s funeral procession.
It was later used by President Lyndon Johnson in his inauguration and on trips to Camp David. After this Chrysler would sell the car, apparently by accident, to a Chrysler dealer and then tried urgently to buy it back once they realized its historic significance.
Fast Facts – President Lyndon Johnson’s Ghia Limousine
- This vehicle started life as a 1964 Imperial LeBaron hardtop mounted on a convertible frame. It was then shipped to Ghia in Italy where it was given a conversion into a six-window custom limousine to be used by the Kennedy Administration.
- The vehicle was used extensively First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, including in the funeral procession of her husband JFK after his assassination. It would then be used by President Lyndon Johnson in his inauguration, before later being returned to Chrysler.
- Period newspaper reports note that the vehicle is bulletproof, and that Chrysler rented it to the White House for the sum of $1 USD per year. Once it had been returned to them it was sold in error to a Chrysler dealer named Hugh McVeigh, owner of Redford Chrysler in Redford, Michigan. Chrysler later tried and failed to buy the car back one they realized its historic significance.
- The car is now due to roll across the auction block with Mecum on the 9th of March in Glendale, Arizona. The price guide is $125,000 – $150,000 USD, which seems on the low side for such an important piece of American motoring history.
The 1964 Imperial Crown Ghia Presidential Limousine
A series of vehicles was built by Chrysler (with help from Ghia in Italy) specifically for the Kennedy Administration in the early 1960s. They each started out as a 1964 Imperial LeBaron hardtop body which was fitted to a convertible frame, then shipped to coachbuilders Carrozzeria Ghia in Turin, Italy where the body was modified into a six-window custom limousine.
This is a period newspaper article that tells the story of how this car ended up being accidentally sold by Chrysler into private hands.
Some period news reports noted that the cars were bulletproof, which would have made a lot of sense, but exactly what level of armor was applied and where is not publicly available. Once completed, each of the cars was supplied to the White House but they weren’t sold to the government, instead they were each rented for the sum of $1 USD per annum.
This allowed Chrysler to maintain full ownership of the vehicles, which were returned to the company at the end of their official service life.
The 1964 Imperial Crown Ghia Presidential Limousine shown here is markedly different from the 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible that was also used for presidential duties. The convertibles were used for parades where the President and First Lady wanted to be seen, whereas the Imperial Crown was used when they needed more secure transport.
Tragically, it would be in one of the 1961 Lincoln Continental convertibles that President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed.
The Imperial Crown Presidential Limousine is powered by a 413 cubic inch, 340 bhp 16-valve V8 which sends power back to the rear wheels via a 3-speed Torqueflite automatic push-button transmission. The driver sits up front and there’s a glass screen between the front and rear sections that can be raised or lowered when privacy is required.
The black lacquer paint was applied in a lengthy process that took over 30 days to complete. Gold pinstripes were then added, along with a black landau top. In the rear you’ll find a gray leather, gray sheered mouton carpets, and wool broadcloth interior with wood accents and flush folding jump seats that were used by Special Service personnel.
These are images of the car being used by President Lyndon Johnson during his Inauguration.
There are radio controls in the right armrest as well as controls for the electrically operated privacy partition window. Up front you’ll see red parade lights installed in the grille next to the standard headlights, and this vehicle is riding on 1960s-era whitewall tires.
The Presidential Limousine Shown Here
The vehicle you see in this article, as noted in the introduction, was used initially by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, then subsequently by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It would be in this car that Jacqueline Kennedy would attend her husband JFK’s funeral procession.
Shortly thereafter it would be used by LBJ in his inauguration, and then later on trips to Camp David. After it was returned to Chrysler from its official White House duties something a little odd happened, someone at Chrysler put it up for sale at a company auction and it was bought by Hugh McVeigh, the owner of Redford Chrysler in Redford, Michigan.
McVeigh knew the vehicle was special but he didn’t realize just how historically significant it was, and regularly used it as a minivan of sorts for family vacations in Northern Michigan. He said in a period newspaper article that the electrically-operated privacy screen was a godsend on these holidays because when the kids got too noisy in the back he could raise the screen and enjoy peaceful serenity.
After a year of ownership McVeigh received a called from a Chrysler representative in Detroit trying to buy the car back – they had only just realized the historic significance of the vehicle that they’d sold. McVeigh refused to sell, and continued to use the car, including in parades and as a display piece.
He later did sell the car to another private owner, and it passed through a small number of private hands since.
Here we see First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy exiting the car. She used this vehicle extensively during her time in the White House.
The vehicle is now due to roll across the auction block with Mecum on the 9th of March with a price guide of $125,000 – $150,000 USD. Though this is obviously a lot of money, it does seem a little on the low side for such an important piece of American motoring history.
If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can visit the listing on Mecum here.
Images courtesy of Mecum
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
