Friday, August 12, 2011

Pebble Beach 2011: a Lincoln auction used by Pope Paul VI and by the astronauts of the Apollo program

The usual auction of jewels on wheels that Bonhams organizes each year during the Concours d'Elegance at Pebble Beach, will arrive in the coming days, a truly unique: the auction house will offer the wealthy collectors who attend your appointments a Lincoln Continental 1964 with landaulet body. Based on the '61 Continental, this extraordinary vehicle of representation of the well 7.5 m in length, was prepared by coachbuilders Lehmann-Peterson of Chicago for the visit of Pope Paul VI in New York in 1965: on that occasion the Pope was transported on board the Lincoln to the United Nations headquarters and then at Yankee Stadium, where he celebrated a mass.


In the following years, Ford brought the car in Bogota, Colombia, on the occasion of a further papal visit. Due to the altitude of the South American capital, the Lincoln had to undergo some adjustments to fuel the engine with fuel for aircraft, which was provided with the Colombian Air Force.

Continental landaulet then lent service to NASA, becoming the official car with which they were greeted the astronauts of the Apollo program (Missions 8, 11, 13 and 15 in particular) on their return to Earth. It is estimated that the car could reach a value of $ 350,000 at auction.

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