Myths about the "X-100"

Did Bill Greer apply the brakes?

One recent theory has X-100 driver Bill Greer applying the brakes to assist a gunman on the Grassy Knoll in tracking the President's head. Researcher Vince Palamara and Harrison Livingstone have justified this bizarre theory on the premise that JFK was Catholic and Greer was born a Merhodist in Ireland. Obviosuly, these writers have ignored the fact that President Kennedy traveled in open-car motorcades throughout Ireland, and that any intentional deceleration would only have complicated an accomplice's tracking.

Why did the limousine slow down?

In "Case Closed", author Gerald Posner maintains: "Incredibly, Greer, sensing something was wrong in the back of the car, slowed the vehicle almost to a standstill and turned in his seat to see what had happened."

Reviewing the Zapruder film, Dr. Luis Alvarez determined:
"The heavy car decelerated suddenly for about 0.5 sec (10 frames),
centered at about frame 299, reducing its speed from about 12 mph
to about 8 mph. Since the car was certainly being operated in some
low gear ratio, the deceleration was no doubt caused by the driver
reducing his foot pressure on the accelerator pedal."

A bullet fatally struck the President in the head at Z313, about 1/2 second after the limousine decelerated. Alvarez believes Greer merely lifted his foot off the accelerator, "an unaviodable conditioned reflex" to the sound of the first siren, mounted on the front fender of the Secret Service follow-up car, the "Queen Mary." The assassination films do show the subtle, random deceleration of the 7,800-pound Lincoln described by Alvarez, and the motorcycle escorts overtaking the car just after the fatal shot.

Was the X-100 gutted to destroy evidence?

On page 70 of The Killing of a President, Groden writes: "At Lyndon Johnson's request, the car was later removed, stripped, then totally rebuilt."

On the afternoon of the assassination, the X-100 was flown to Washington in the Air Force C130 cargo plane that had taken the car to Texas the day before. From Andrews Air Force Base, it was driven to the Secret Service garage and covered in plastic until an examination could be conducted. A thorough examination by Secret Service and FBI agents removed every metal and skull fragment, recording their location. The X-100 was totally photographed inside and out.

The windshield, splintered from a non-penetrating fragment strike, and the dented chrome molding are today stored in the National Archives.

An independent task force -- not Lyndon Johnson -- recommended the X-100 be rebuilt. The project, called the "Quick Fix," began after the Warren Commission had released the car. The rear compartment was retrimmed, replacing the spoiled seat and carpets. The windows were replaced by fixed bullet-resistant glass panels. By the time the Secret Service re-created the assassination in Dealey Plaza in May 1964, the X-100 had a permanent transparent top and was undergoing tests at Ford facilities in Dearborn, Michigan, making it unavailable.

Sources:

Alvarez, Luis. "A Physicist Examines the Kennedy Assassination Film." American Journal of Physics. September 1976.

Explore the history of Kennedy's Lincoln.

Anthony Marsh examines the bullet damage to the X-100 in The "Best Witness"