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Who owned a 1963 Ford hardtop in 1963?

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Unmarked?

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Sgt Dean.........?????

John, why do you suggest Sgt Dean?

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1963 ford hardtop also associated with shooting range Dr. Wood and son testimony. No color mentioned. Driver in car. Witness (wood's) says sawn off carcano used. Left in car. Different scope on carcano.

EDIT:: Ps: this is just speculative: An ongoing research into Harry D. Holmes. (Oklahoma>Kansas City MO dentistry student) Dr Woods , dentist. Whenever a dentist crops up I think 'Harry'. Journals, assossiations, past histories (Jewels College), etc. should any reason arise that ties Harry directly to witneses and events no matter how indirectly, please mention them. For example: what car did Harry drive etc.)

Edited by John Dolva
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John, no need for excuses. Anything will do. If the DPD had unmarked 1963 ford hardtops and a Sgt Dean had access to such that is of interest.

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John, no need for excuses. Anything will do. If the DPD had unmarked 1963 ford hardtops and a Sgt Dean had access to such that is of interest.

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Johnny D.,

What's the alternative to a "hardtop?" A convertible? I would think there were thousands if not millions of "'63 Ford hardtops" in circulation nation-wide by November 22, 1963.

What would be really interesting (and easier to research) is if the speeding car you're talking about was a '63 Ford convertible or, for example, a purple '63 Ford hardtop with yellow racing stripes... But no such luck, evidently he or she was driving a run-of-the-mill '63 Ford hardtop. Oh, well... Good luck...

--Tommy G.

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Edited by Thomas Graves
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what I've learnt here is that the DPD used the 1963 Ford Hardtop. I didn't kow that. The car described (could that also include the 1964 model in late '63?) as a 'new' 1963 "Ford Hardtop' (not the wagon) features in a few separate but important events. Hence a bump to see if one can garner further info on this car, whatever that may be. Primarily it is : who owned this type of car in late '63. It may be just an unrelated memory in someone who reads this, but whatever, please mention it. (not clear yet whether some of the DPD's fords were also 'unmarked', and who had free access to them)

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John, no need for excuses. Anything will do. If the DPD had unmarked 1963 ford hardtops and a Sgt Dean had access to such that is of interest.

__________________________

Johnny D.,

What's the alternative to a "hardtop?" A convertible? I would think there were thousands if not millions of "'63 Ford hardtops" in circulation nation-wide by November 22, 1963.

What would be really interesting (and easier to research) is if the speeding car you're talking about was a '63 Ford convertible or, for example, a purple '63 Ford hardtop with yellow racing stripes... But no such luck, evidently he or she was driving a run-of-the-mill '63 Ford hardtop. Oh, well... Good luck...

--Tommy G.

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John....for what it's worth, the lead car in front of the Presidential Lincoln is a 1963 Ford Sedan police car. EDIT: Tippet's car was also a 1963 Ford sedan squad car.

We must also define "hardtop". Everyone has mentioned the DPD having Ford hardtops. To be technical, a "hardtop" is a car with pillarless windows, whereas a "sedan" has pillared windows. In other words, especially for our european readers, when looked at from the side with all of the windows down, a "hardtop" will not have any supports or pillars in the window area. It's usually a sportier, higher priced, and structually weaker car. The sedan will have window pillars showing even with the windows down, and is usually cheaper, less sporty, and structually stronger than the hardtop. It would be VERY unusual for any police department to own and use a true "hardtop" instead of the sedans. And yes, both sedans and hardtops came in both 2 and 4 door versions.

I doubt seriously that the DPD had any Ford "hardtops" at all. They were all 4 door "sedans". To some people who know nothing about cars, any car that is not a convertible is called a hardtop. Someone who knows the difference will say either "a Ford sedan", or "a Ford hardtop". The difference would mean that if it was a sedan, it might have been a DPD car. If it was truly a hardtop, it was most likely a privately owned vehicle.

Another thing to think about is that to some a Ford Fairlane or Ford Falcon is "just a Ford".

JWK

Edited by J. William King
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Excellent> Thank you, William.

Hardtop

Stirling Wood was a 13 year old boy. Now when I was a kid I rmemember being very aware of cars and so were my contemporaries (males) it's probably universal trait. Sometimes just a quick view of a part of a car and one knows which car it is. A friend of mine and I could even pick motorcycles simply by hearing them.

When he says a new ford hardtop that is most likely what it was. So the field narrows considerably. So: apparently we move into a different economic bracket. A smaller field of candidates.

WC testimony, Firing range:: Mr (13 yo Sterling) Wood : It was a ..newer model ...Ford...Hardtop....I know cause I like Fords...

Sedan

"Robert Surrey, an aide to General Edwin Walker, reported that on Saturday, April 6, 1963, at about 9:00 p.m., "two white men in a 1963 Ford [four door Sedan], dark purple or dark brown, parked in the alley directly behind the complainant's [General Edwin Walker] house. These persons were witnessed getting out of the car and walking up to the property line and smoking the place over." They were dressed in suits. Robert Surrey followed them for thirty minutes as they left the alley and stated: "There was no license plate on this car, either front or rear." "

in this instance a "dark four door 1963 model Ford sedan" no plates, seen after dark.

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Stirling Wood was a 13 year old boy. Now when I was a kid I rmemember being very aware of cars and so were my contemporaries (males) it's probably universal trait. Sometimes just a quick view of a part of a car and one knows which car it is. A friend of mine and I could even pick motorcycles simply by hearing them.

Thanks John. As a boy and even now, I pride myself in car identification. I can look at a picture of a very small portion of a car, especially one from the 50's or 60's, and tell you exactly what the year and make is. I love to look at pictures of cars stacked up in junkyards and try to identify them. Like you said, I'm sure that most boys raised during this period (I was 9 in 1963) could do this. I didn't know that the report came from a kid who seems to be 'into' cars, and especially Fords. I'm not sure if we go into a different economic bracket, but we sure go from a sporty personal car to a utility-type working car. The one you mentioned at Gen. Walkers seems to be the latter.

Good find!

JWK

Edited by J. William King
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There are mentions of Ferrie's Falcon subgroup 'the Omnipotents', but seemingly no listing of membership. Any link to such please?

what car was Ferrie driving Nov 22? He apparently was maintaining payment on a ford.

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There are mentions of Ferrie's Falcon subgroup 'the Omnipotents', but seemingly no listing of membership. Any link to such please?

what car was Ferrie driving Nov 22? He apparently was maintaining payment on a ford.

John;

If one searches long enough within the WC testimonies, they will find another individual who owned a new ford "hardtop".

And, as has been stated, virtually no police department, etc; purchases anything other than four-door vehicles.

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