President John F. Kennedy, unfortunately, holds the distinction of being one of the very few American Presidents to be assassinated while in office. He was also a very popular President whose adoration by Americans continues to this day. At the time of his inauguration, he was the youngest President elected, and he entered the White House with dashing good looks equal to his natural charm and charisma. He brought a picture-perfect family to live in Washington and his wife Jackie graced the cover of all the popular magazines of the day. Sadly, he succumbed to a sustained gunshot wound while riding in the Presidential limousine, an open-top Lincoln, the last time a President would ride in an unprotected car.
While President Kennedy traveled in a stretch of Continental while in office, he liked Ford Thunderbirds, owning two of them before his untimely death. He had a 1961 convertible that was once driven as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500 race as well as a 1963 hardtop, per The News Wheel. These cars represented the move to a personal luxury car from more sports car-like first gen T-birds. They were well equipped with such features as a swing-away steering column, vacuum-assisted door locks, air conditioning, and more. Kennedy’s affinity for the T-bird was evident and, coincidentally, that affinity may have been passed down as, according to Autoguide, JFK Jr. once owned a Thunderbird Turbo Coupe from the ’80s.