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Model of Kennedy's assassination car.

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Model of Kennedy's assassination car.
Posted by iwander on Thursday, July 9, 2015 6:03 PM

I found the article selling a model of the Kennedy's Assassination car very offensive.

What's next? World Trade Center falling down? Southern Church on fire?

I think Model Railroader can no longer claim that it is the magazine that model railroaders trust

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Posted by jasperofzeal on Thursday, July 9, 2015 7:16 PM

I don't have access to the article in question so I have to ask for more info.  Does the model in question have a replica of Kennedy in the back seat showing all the gore?  If no figure, does the car have blood stains or other such graphic material?  What made it offensive to you?  Do you also find if offensive that you can go to any book store and purchase books about that tragic day?  Did you boycott or even complain to Ford (owner of Lincoln motors) for continuing to sell Lincoln Continentals after Nov. 22, 1963?

It's called history.  The real limo is on display somewhere in Michigan.  Are you going to go and picket the place demanding they remove the vehicle?  There are also scale models of Nazi military equipment for sale at many LHS's.  Not to mention models of the Titanic and other vehicles that have seen their share of tragedy.  So where do you draw the line?  Get over yourself.

TONY

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Posted by jjdamnit on Thursday, July 9, 2015 7:44 PM

Hello All,

What the OP is referring to is a listing in the August, 2015, issue of MR under the News & Products section of a replica of the Kennedy Presidential limousine on page 11. 

This item is also listed with other replica cars from the same manufacturer.

In my personal opinion this is just as offensive as the ad on page 7 of the same issue.

As has been discussed, Ad dollars trump personal likes and dislikes.

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

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Posted by IRONROOSTER on Thursday, July 9, 2015 8:38 PM

This is really a stretch.  The car was used for presidents from 1961 to 1978 - long after the assaination.

Plus a lot of people liked JFK and collect memorabilia about him.

I find nothing offensive about the ad or the product.

Paul

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Posted by RideOnRoad on Thursday, July 9, 2015 8:44 PM

IRONROOSTER
. . .I find nothing offensive about the ad or the product.

+1

Richard

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Posted by maxman on Thursday, July 9, 2015 9:03 PM

RideOnRoad

 

 
IRONROOSTER
. . .I find nothing offensive about the ad or the product.

 

+1

 

The ad says nothing about it being an "assassination" car.  All it says is that it is a model of Kennedy's 1961 Lincoln Continental X-100, and is shown with other Ford products on both sides of the 1961 year.

So, +2

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Posted by Uncle_Bob on Thursday, July 9, 2015 9:16 PM

iwander

I found the article selling a model of the Kennedy's Assassination car very offensive.

What's next? World Trade Center falling down? Southern Church on fire?

I think Model Railroader can no longer claim that it is the magazine that model railroaders trust

 

Did you react with this level of disgust and outrage when MR printed an article about Jimmy Carter's "plain old Plains station" back in (I think) August, 1977?  The way some people reacted to that issue, you'd think they'd printed something truly awful, not just an article and drawings of a structure.  

The bottom line is this: If you don't want to buy something, don't buy it -- but don't act like some sort of moral arbiter for everyone based upon your personal outrage.

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Posted by JAMES MOON on Thursday, July 9, 2015 9:59 PM

As with others, I had looked at the ad and thought nothing offensive whatsoever.  What caught my eye in the ad was the 49 Merc and the 65 Mustang.  Kid two houses away from me had a Merc that he drove and also ran at the local drag strip.  The year Mustang was the first new car I owned.  Not a favorite as the transmission ate gears, the suspension ate tires and the engine ate exhaust valves.

Jim

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Posted by chutton01 on Thursday, July 9, 2015 10:05 PM

I mentioned this model back in April 2015, in the "Another Thing to gripe about" thread concerning the sizes of HO scale vehicle.
The Oxford Diecast on-line catalog entry for this vehicle (page 11) clearly states "the 1961 produced vehicle in which J F Kennedy was assassinated on 22nd November 1963". When I listed the new Oxford vehicles to be introduced in that thread, I specifically put a "oh man" and a "face-palm" smilie after that entry because I knew at some point to come somebody would be offended...and as usual, I was completely right.
Oh well...

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Posted by angelob6660 on Thursday, July 9, 2015 10:46 PM

Other car manufacturers in the past always makes the Lincoln Continental X-100. This is probably the first time in HO.

I remember a long time ago they had the Kennedy's sitting in the back seat.

This is not offensive. What is offensive is making a replica Bewitched convertible car being green instead of blue.

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Posted by NittanyLion on Thursday, July 9, 2015 11:02 PM

You know what they sell a lot of in the NASA gift shops?  STS-51-L and STS-107 mission patches.

People like to commemorate tragedies.  Always have, probably always will.

And have a bonus fascination with assassinations.  

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Posted by gmpullman on Friday, July 10, 2015 12:05 AM

No offence taken here, either.

Balance and perspective. As others have mentioned, this automobile is a part of the fabric that is our history and heritage. We can choose to ingnore it but it will not go away.

I have visited Henry Ford Museum and looked the display over several times. I've also been to Arlington, Gettysburg, Ford's Theater and the Alamo Mission among other reminders of tragedies.

Offensive? I think not. President Johnson didn't seem to have any superstisions about the car since he used it throughout his time in Office.

Walthers offers various Amtrak passenger cars. On very rare and unfortunate circumstances, people have lost their lives in these very same cars through no fault of their own. Should they be pulled off the market because seeing a model of one may offend someone who might have been affected by such a tragedy?

As a modeler I would probably get a copy of the X-100 limousine. I'm hoping to find a Ferdinand Magellan Presidential railroad car someday and I'll need a way to get the POTUS to and from his train.

Happy Modeling, Ed

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Posted by "JaBear" on Friday, July 10, 2015 1:46 AM

iwander
I think Model Railroader can no longer claim that it is the magazine that model railroaders trust

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Posted by zstripe on Friday, July 10, 2015 2:47 AM

I'm going to have a Raspberry cheese danish with My tea!

Take Care! Big Smile

Frank

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Posted by richhotrain on Friday, July 10, 2015 4:52 AM

I love the smell of thread locks in the morning.

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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 10, 2015 5:02 AM

Just that:

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Posted by Phoebe Vet on Friday, July 10, 2015 7:52 AM

IRONROOSTER

This is really a stretch.  The car was used for presidents from 1961 to 1978 - long after the assaination.

Plus a lot of people liked JFK and collect memorabilia about him.

I find nothing offensive about the ad or the product.

Paul

 

+1

Dave

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Posted by EMD.Don on Friday, July 10, 2015 8:35 AM

I agree with the others above who saw absolutely nothing wrong with the add(s).

Happy modeling!

Don

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Posted by csxns on Friday, July 10, 2015 8:35 AM

iwander
Southern Church on fire?

See buildings on layouts on fire lots of times.

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Posted by Water Level Route on Friday, July 10, 2015 8:37 AM
Look at how many people flock to Ford's Theater in DC where you can see where Lincoln was shot, the chair he was in, the suit he was wearing, etc. Assassinations fascinate. Not offended at all by the model of the car. One could even use it to model a sort of memorial to the man in the same light as Ford's Theater.

Mike

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Posted by Soo Line fan on Friday, July 10, 2015 8:45 AM

At last, the offensive model has been found...............

Jim

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Posted by Carnegie Falls on Friday, July 10, 2015 9:19 AM

The only thing offensive about that car is the size of the flag poles.  Yikes.

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Posted by angelob6660 on Friday, July 10, 2015 9:53 AM

I would take off those flag poles and make it into a normal car.

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Posted by dknelson on Friday, July 10, 2015 11:51 AM

Does it compound the horror that the 1961 Lincoln had "suicide doors?"   Or have those been renamed to "friendlier to bicyclists" doors?  I myself found nothing offensive about the ad or offering the car as a model, although I am old enough that seeing a Lincoln of that vintage brings back vivid memories of that Friday and weekend.  

Probably the most famous tragedy that model railroading has happily celebrated was the death of Casey Jones.  All manner of 4-6-0s have been referred to as "Casey Jones" locomotives, none of which resembled the IC 382 itself, although there have been accurate models of the engine he died in.  I don't think it occured to anybody to be offended by any of those - even as Casey's widow still lived by the way.  (And some of us remember the TV show about Casey Jones where Casey cheerfully failed to die week after week.)

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Posted by Burlington Northern #24 on Friday, July 10, 2015 11:54 AM
...

SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.

 http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide 

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Posted by BRAKIE on Saturday, July 11, 2015 6:02 AM

Burlington Northern #24
...
 

Absolutely agree! Laugh

Larry

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Posted by richhotrain on Saturday, July 11, 2015 6:20 AM

BRAKIE

 

 
Burlington Northern #24
...
 

 

 

Absolutely agree! Laugh

 

I don't.   Stick out tongue

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Posted by Geared Steam on Saturday, July 11, 2015 10:53 AM

richhotrain

I love the smell of thread locks in the morning.

 

Best post ever!!  Thumbs Up

Back on topic, I'm personally  offended that some people were offended, and also that some folks were not offended. Its very offensive to not be offended at something so offensive, with that said, being offended for the case of just being offended is just as offensive as those whom weren't offended.

And what about the children?

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein

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Posted by Soo Line fan on Saturday, July 11, 2015 12:33 PM

I'm offended by this and your offended by that.

We are all offended by somebody or something at sometime and its just so darn offensive.

Jim

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Posted by yougottawanta on Saturday, July 11, 2015 8:16 PM

I'm offended by this and your offended by that.

We are all offended by somebody or something at sometime and its just so darn offensive.

I am so tired of being offended that I am not offeneded anymore Confused

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