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Plaza had begun.
The Kennedy motorcade wended its way from Lemmon Avenue to Turtle Creek Boulevard, to Harwood Street before turning right onto Main St., some twelve blocks from Dealey Plaza. Following directly behind the Presidential limousine was the Secret Service's five-ton 1955 8-passenger Cadillac convertible. Unlike the Presidential car, agents were mounted on the Cadillac's special running boards. Though its code named Secret Service radio call sign was "Halfback", the leviathan vehicle was dubbed the "Queen Mary" by the press corps. Replete with what seemed to be an overflow of agents, the Cadillac lumbered hardly more than a length behind the Presidential car.

The crowds on Main St. were much larger than The White House advance men had predicted. As if on cue, people began applauding, then shouting as the motorcade came into sight. What began as a murmur rose to a roar as it ricocheted through the man-made canyon of buildings. Like rolling thunder, the sound seemed to pick up momentum as the Lincoln made a right turn, followed not quite 30 seconds later by a left turn as it made its way down the length of Elm street.
The big blue Lincoln had reached Dealey Plaza. SS 100X passed the School Book Depository and continued down Elm St. The car came abreast of the exit sign for the Stemmons Freeway, and seconds later would be parallel to the 4-foot concrete pedestal of the Bryant-Cockrell monument colonnade. . .
What happened next is burnt into the memory of ever American who was alive at the time. Much of the above copy is a teaser copy lifted from a novel in progress by this writer.
But what about the Lincoln itself?
The 1961 Lincoln Continental limousine President Kennedy was assassinated in was a product of the Ford Advanced Vehicles division in Wixom, Michigan, and Hess & Eisenhardt, custom-body builders, Cincinnati, Ohio. The presidential conversion of a regular 1961 Continental convertible, powered by the model's stock 430-cubic-inch V-8, began in January 1961. When finished six months later, it was the first completely air-conditioned Presidential limousine. Its curb weight had increased from 5,215 pounds to over 7,800.
The work done included literally cutting the car in half, extending it 3 feet to 21 feet in length, reinforcing the chassis, adding a removable steel and transparent plastic roof panels (the famous "bubble" not used that day in Dallas) which provided everything from enclosed privacy, to completely open visibility, a hydraulic rear

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