JFK Hearse To Be Auctioned At Barrett-Jackson

The first Barrett-Jackson auction of 2012 takes place this week in Scottsdale, Arizona, and once again there will be plenty of precious metal on the block.

The 1964 Cadillac Hearse that carried John F. Kennedy to Air Force One after he was shot.

Posing alongside the usual array of Corvettes and Cadillacs will be the hearse in which President John F. Kennedy was driven to his final reward after he was assassinated in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.

The O'Neal Funeral Home owned the 1964 Cadillac Hearse at the time, and the funeral home provided the car and casket to the White House. The hearse transported JFK's body and the First Lady from Parkland Memorial Hospital to Love Field, where Air Force One was waiting.

The car had originally been built by the Miller-Meteor Company for display at the National Funeral Home Directors Association Convention, which took place in Dallas in October of 1963. The O'Neal Funeral Home purchased the hearse and held onto it until the late '60s, when Arrdeen Vaughan, who may have been an employee at O'Neal, bought it.

Vaughan owned the car for over four decades before selling it privately to the unnamed current owner, who in turn has put it up for bid.

This isn't the first vehicle involved in the Kennedy assassination to go up for auction at Barrett-Jackson. At last year's Scottsdale auction, the ambulance used to transport Kennedy's body from Air Force One to Bethesda Naval Hospital was sold for $132,000 despite questions about its authenticity.

For those who don't know, Barrett-Jackson holds four auctions per year—one in Scottsdale; one in Palm Beach, Florida; one in Orange County, California; and one in Las Vegas. Car collectors spend princely sums to purchase rare vehicles, and celebrities commonly attend the events.

Other cars on the block at this year's Scottsdale event include a 1961 Chevrolet Corvette convertible, a 2013 Ford Mustang Sprint Cup race car, a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, a custom 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, a 2011 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible Indianapolis 500 Pace Car, a 1941 Packard Limousine, and a 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing. At least three cars belonging to rocker Bret Michaels--a 2004 Lincoln Navigator, a 2004 Bentley Continental GT, and 2011 Ford Explorer--will hit the block as well, and Michaels was scheduled to perform at the Opening Gala on Monday night.

Let the bidding begin.

[Sources: Barrett-Jackson, Phoenix Business Journal]