Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis behind the wheel of her 1974 BMW 3.0S.
While living in New York, Jackie purchased the car in August 1974 from Martin Motors BMW on the Upper East Side, keeping it for nearly two decades before selling it in 1992 to a neighbor in Peapack. The green BMW Bavaria sedan became a quiet constant in her lifecarrying her between city responsibilities and weekends in the countryside of Peapack-Gladstone, where she spent time with her children riding and fox hunting at the Essex Hunt Club.
During the week, the car rested in a garage on 86th Street, though Jackie occasionally drove it to meet her editorial commitments at Doubleday. For her, it wasn't just transportationit reflected what John F. Kennedy Jr. once described as her love of words, devotion to family, and enduring sense of adventure.
Years later, the car became something of a relicpassing into the hands of a neighbor who preserved it, and eventually appearing at auction in 2000, where it sold for $57,100. Unlike the soaring prices of collector icons such as Steve McQueen's Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, Jackie's BMW remained something more intimatean everyday car tied to an extraordinary life.
*Paul (Jackie's neighbor)
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