A look at the car that was used to carry Lee Harvey Oswald to work on November 22, 1963
Photo taken by Author on October 17, 2021 at the Ripley's "Believe it or Not" attraction in San Antonio, Texas
Background info
Recently on a trip to Dallas to see old friends that flew in from across the country and Canada, I was informed of of this car by my good friend, Frank Badalson. Frank has an interesting car collection up in Virginia, including Ruth Paine's original 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Station Wagon. I enjoyed talking cars with Frank, especially the 1960's "Muscle Car" models. From our conversation in Dallas, I had no idea that Buell Wesley's car was located near me. So I took a short drive from the Hill Country into the Alamo Plaza district in downtown San Antonio to see for myself and do a little research on this piece of history.
The car is a 1954 Chevrolet 4-Door Bel Air model. You can view the car here in an excerpt of the 1964 David Wolper film, "Four Days in November". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFW6eZZFzLY
Note the film states the car as a 1953 model, however a 1962 Texas Registration denotes it as a 1954.
Photo by Author
Frazier (18 years old) bought the used car in Huntsville, Texas from" Wood Motors".
Photo by Author
Almost one year after the assassination, Frazier (20 years old) sold the car to L.H. Hough. As per the museum video display, Frazier sold the car to "Buddy" Hough for $10 for record of sale. He negotiated with Hough for another car. Perhaps this is explained in Frazier's new book, "Steering Truth".
L.H. "Buddy" Hough was a St. Augustine, Florida Gas and Fuel Oil businessman. Hough planned to open a museum in St. Augustine called "Museum of Tragedies". However he ran into problems with local zoning authorities. Eventually a museum was opened years later. Hough began buying items connected to the assassination soon after it happened. In his collection, he had purchased the O'Neal Funeral Ambulance in 1964 that carried Oswald to Parkland after Ruby shot him. The 1962 Ford Station Wagon ambulance was located in Austin, Texas after O'Neal Funeral Home traded it for a newer model. Reportedly also in his collection were the set of handcuffs on Oswald in the Ruby shooting, Oswald's New Orleans Library Card and a retainer was advanced for the furniture in Oswald's room at the Beckley rooming house.[1]
Note: I'm not sure if the Beckley furniture was actually bought by L.H. Hough, however Ripley's did acquire the furniture set from Oswald's room on Marsalis (Mary Bledsoe). Perhaps there was some confusion.
Sometime later Ripley's did acquire Frazier's car. Eventually, Hough's collection was housed in the "Florida's Tragedy" section of the U.S. History Museum in St. Augustine, Florida. The museum closed in 1998. https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/unboxing-lee-harvey-oswald-the-kennedy-assassination/
Additional Observations and Photos
The car is available to see at Ripley's in San Antonio. It is not roped off, and you can touch it. However, all the doors are locked, to protect the interior.
The bench seats are worn and splitting.
The exterior has evidence of wear throughout.
Frazier's car has automatic transmission with shifter on column.
Looking inside the vehicle, there is no doubt that Frazier saw the package laying on the back seat. Oswald placed the rifle bag on the back seat, on the passenger side (per Frazier's WC testimony). Once Frazier got in the driver's seat, he had a full view over his right shoulder. Once they reached the TSBD parking, Oswald just opened up the back door and pulled it out, on his side. In other words, there was no attempt to obscure or hide the package from Frazier.
Frazier supplied a sworn notarized statement to L.H. Hough upon the sale of his vehicle. Below you will see Frazier freely say Oswald was the assassin. That story has changed over the years. (notice the misspelling of Irving)
Photo by Author
Other various photos by author. Note: Interior shots are of poor quality due to reflections off the lighting in the room.
1 - Tampa Bay Times, October 10, 1964, "Oswald Museum in the Making", Special to the Times