John F. Kennedy Jr.’s green 1994 Saab 900 SE is drawing intense interest at RR Auction, with more than 20 bids pushing the current price close to $30,000.
During the late nineteen-nineties, JFK Jr. and his late wife, publicist Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, were frequent sights in Lower Manhattan. Photographers often captured the couple driving the Saab near their Tribeca loft.
The vehicle features a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, a leather interior, and aftermarket aqua-blue ski racks mounted to the roof. According to Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at RR Auction, those elements reflected Kennedy’s characteristic blend of aristocratic, athletic, and bohemian style.
Kennedy purchased the Saab brand new from Zumbach Sports Cars in Manhattan for $29,841.21 during the summer of 1994. He kept the car until his death in 1999.
Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at RR Auction, told GQ why the vehicle stands apart from typical celebrity car auctions.
“What makes this lot so special is it’s not some Maserati or something flashy like that—it’s a practical car that was a part of his everyday life. For Kennedy, the choice of this car, as opposed to a Mercedes or something, speaks a lot to his style.”
said Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at RR Auction, told GQ.
The car enters the auction market via Kevin J. Hynes, a screenwriter and long-time friend of Kennedy who worked alongside him at the New York DA’s office in the early nineties. The vehicle had been left at Hynes’s Westchester home just days before Kennedy’s fatal plane crash.
Hynes purchased the automobile from the Kennedy estate in 2000 for $6,000. Two years later, he sold it for $12,000.
While a subsequent third owner started the engine regularly, the odometer shows a mere 30,650 miles. The vehicle appears to have remained off the road for a considerable duration.
The Saab launched with a minimum sale price of $15,000 as part of RR Auction’s Fine Autographs and Artifacts event. The catalog also features a tweed hat worn by the elder JFK and Lee Harvey Oswald’s overcoat.
Livingston noted the unexpected scale of public demand for the vehicle compared to other high-profile lots.
“We’ve sold a Hummer that belonged to Tupac, and a Cadillac Escalade that was used by Tony Soprano in The Sopranos, but I didn’t know there would be such an affection for John F. Kennedy Jr.’s Saab.”
With bidding already surpassing initial expectations, auction organizers anticipate the final sale price will climb significantly higher.
