Have you ever fancied owning the last car a famous person owned, whether a musician, TV star, or politician? Well, you recently had a chance to do so, as the last car owned by John F. Kennedy Jr. was put up for sale.
This isn’t a crazy supercar, an American supercar, or a rare classic. This is a much more mundane 1994 Saab 900 SE Coupe that was sold off at RR Auctions on November 11th. It was the last car that the politician ever owned.
Kennedy, his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette were killed in a plane crash off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard on July 1th 1999. Kennedy had bought the Saab new, which meant he could have a few additional features fitted and opt for a manual transmission.
The odometer showed that the car had done less than 31,000 miles, and there were some signs of age and wear on the car, mostly in the cabin. For a man of his fame, born into one of America’s wealthiest families, choosing a Saab 900 SE was an incredibly modest choice.
The Last Car Kennedy Jr. Ever Owned
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The listing for the car said that Kennedy Jr. bought the Saab new from Zumbach Sports Cars in Manhattan in the summer of 1994. Back then, he paid $29,841.21 for the Saab. The car even came with a CD player as well as a phone hookup. “The practical Swedish hatchback suited the understated, slightly unconventional style Kennedy cultivated as an adult,” read the listing.
“He drove it regularly around New York, and the intensely photographed nature of his life made the Saab a recurring backdrop to his final years,” it added. “Numerous period images show Kennedy, and later Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, with the car, sometimes attempting to make their way through the paparazzi who followed them through the city.”
After the plane crash, the car spent much time sitting at the Larchmont, New York, home of Kennedy’s friend Kevin Hynes. In 2000, Hynes bought the car from the Saab estate for $6,000, and in 2006 he sold the car to Michael Esposito for $12,000. Although it was sold before, this is the first time the car has come up for auction.
The listing closed on November 11th, and when bidding ended, RR Auctions showed the Saab sold for $40,196.
The Saab 900 SE Offered Swedish Sophistication
The car itself was bought with a light beige leather interior and a five-speed manual transmission. There was a turquoise-green “Main Beach” roof rack, and under the hood the car would have had a 2.0-liter turbocharged petrol engine, producing 185hp.
The sale includes a printed photograph of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy beside the Saab, with the distinctive roof rack also visible. Whoever has been lucky enough to buy the car is about to own an interesting piece of automotive history.