The Car That ENDED Open Presidential Motorcades

The 1961 Lincoln Continental known as X-100 was built around a simple idea: make the President of the United States visible. Its open design allowed John F. Kennedy to be seen by crowds. Removable roof sections offered flexibility. The presidential limousine became part of the image of a young, modern administration that wanted direct contact with the public. Then came Dallas. On November 22, 1963, the X-100 became one of the most infamous cars in history. But what happened next is almost impossible to believe. The limousine was not destroyed. It was rebuilt. The same vehicle was transformed into an armored presidential car and returned to service. It went on to serve later American presidents before finally being retired in 1977. Today, it survives as one of the most haunting artifacts in the collection of The Henry Ford. In this video, we explore the full story of JFK’s Lincoln Continental X-100: why it was designed for visibility, how presidential security worked before Dallas, what happened to the car after the assassination, how it was rebuilt, and why one limousine came to represent the end of the open presidential motorcade. This is the story of a machine designed to bring a president closer to the people — and the event that changed presidential security forever.