Kennedy assassination artifact resides at local museum

👋 Hey, Joe here. I recently saw an incredible artifact of American history that I had no idea was in metro Detroit — the limousine former President John F. Kennedy was riding in when he was assassinated in 1963.

State of play: It's part of the Presidential Vehicles exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn.

• Other vehicles on display carried presidents like Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.

Quick take: I'm merely an aspiring JFK history buff, but getting so close to his limo was surreal. It felt morbid, but I couldn't help but conjure thoughts of the assassination's immediate aftermath and everything this limo has seen.

Of note: The 1961 Lincoln Continental then returned to the White House, was rebuilt with titanium armor plating and other features and was in service until 1977.

• The White House didn’t have the budget to buy these vehicles outright back then, instead leasing them from Lincoln. "When those leases expired, Lincoln often gave the cars to us," museum transportation curator Matt Anderson tells Axios.

If you go: The museum is open daily from 9:30am to 5pm.

• Tickets: $30 or $22.50 for kids ages 5-11.