A 1994 Saab 900 SE Coupe—the final vehicle owned by John F. Kennedy Jr., will be sold at auction. The dark green three-door model remained in Kennedy’s possession until his death in a plane crash near Martha’s Vineyard on July 16, 1999, alongside his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette.
The car has a light beige leather interior, a five-speed manual transmission, and a turquoise-green “Main Beach” roof rack. It has only 30,650 miles on the odometer and shows evidence of age and use, including wear on the leather upholstery and areas of soiling on the carpeting.
A printed photograph of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy beside the Saab will be included with the purchase. The car was purchased new by Kennedy in the summer of 1994 for $29,841.21 from Zumbach Sports Cars in Manhattan.
The Saab suited Kennedy’s understated, slightly unconventional style, and he drove it regularly around New York. The car became a recurring backdrop to his final years, with numerous period images showing Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy with the car, sometimes attempting to make their way through the paparazzi.
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After Kennedy’s death, the Saab sat at the Larchmont, New York home of his friend, Kevin Hynes, for days. Hynes bought the Saab from the Kennedy estate in 2000 for $6,000 and sold it to Michael Esposito in 2006 for $12,000.
The vehicle’s contents, including a football, a soccer ball, a rope, automotive fluid, a March 1999 issue of Rolling Stone, and a Piper baseball cap, were photographed on July 23, 1999. Some of these items have been auctioned off previously, but this is the first time the vehicle itself has appeared for sale.
An E-ZPass transponder, a handwritten telephone-message sheet, an Airborne Express receipt associated with the 2000 estate transaction, and a DeWitt Stern Group envelope addressed to “Mr. John F. Kennedy” and marked “PERSONAL CONFIDENTIAL” will be included with the purchase. As of publication, 24 bids have been placed on the 1994 Saab 900, with a current bidding price of $26,575.
