Jackie Kennedy’s 1974 BMW Bavaria Is Sitting on a Salvage Auction Lot in Florida
It looks like the auto salvage company isn’t quite aware of what it’s about to auction.
We've done a few stories so far on the sheer quantity of vehicles destroyed by Hurricane Ian, but the tale of one particular car stands out. On Thursday, I gathered together a diverse list of machines destroyed by the storm. The list was a part of a larger post about the entire section Copart has dedicated to Hurricane Ian cars. One of the vehicles, a green BMW Bavaria, is more special than I thought. As a reader pointed out in an email—thanks John—the VIN number on the car matches the one of the green E3 owned by none other than Jackie Kennedy.
The listing doesn't mention the vehicle's ownership history, of course. As far as Copart is concerned, it was destroyed in Hurricane Ian and its VIN contains the digits 3180458, the same as Jackie's BMW, according to at least one source. The car is also the same color and specification as Jackie's car, which makes it pretty much certain we're looking at the same vehicle here.
An article in the New York Post from late 2016 even places the car in Florida, Where its current owner was trying to sell it for around $300,000 at the time. It's unclear if any transaction was ever completed, but either way, it seems like the Bavaria never left the state.
The car is suffering from flood damage, of course, but besides that, it's almost completely intact. Unlike a lot of newer vehicles that are dripping in electronics, it's possible that this car could actually be restored. Funnily enough, Copart places the retail value at just $8,860.67. A fair price for a flood-damaged automatic BMW Bavaria with 65,552 miles, but not much for a little piece of history.
The vehicle will be auctioned off 10 a.m. ET, Nov. 14 at Copart's Punta Gorda South location in Florida.
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