Famous Cars: Where Are They Now?

Rosa Parks' bus? Kennedy's limousine? Bonnie and Clyde's death mobile? These are some of the most famous American cars, but whatever happened to them? These cars are almost as legendary as the people who drove them - but unlike their owners, the cars still reside in different locations all around the world. Some of them went through very interesting to journeys to get to their current resting spots.

AOL Autos explores the stories behind these legendary vehicles and lists where you can find them today, just in case you'd ever want to go on a journey yourself to see these famous vehicles.

Bonnie and Clyde's Death Car
When Bonnie Parker met Clyde Barrow it was, by all accounts, love at first sight. The love resulted in three years of haphazard robbery, kidnapping, murder and shootouts across the country. The pair met their end when police sprayed the stolen 1934 Ford Deluxe they were riding in with 130 rounds of bullets on May 23, 1934.

First, the car was towed to the local furniture store and funeral parlor in downtown Arcadia, La. The car was bought and sold by various promoters for use in sideshows at county fairs and circuses. There were many imitators, but the original car had various proofs of authenticity, including Barrow's torn and bloodstained shirt signed by his sister and several letters attesting to its authenticity. Theses items are on display, along with the bullet-riddled Ford, at Whiskey Jack's Casino in Primm, Nev. The casino operator bought the car, bloodstains and all, for $175,000 in 1973.

Elvis's Pink Cadillac
To say Elvis was a fan of the Cadillac is a bit of an understatement. The King gave away countless Cadillacs to family, friends and hangers-on. At his funeral, a 1977 Miller-Meteor Landau Traditional Cadillac hearse transported Elvis' body, with a silver Cadillac limousine leading the procession and 16 white Cadillac limousines behind filled with mourners heading to the Memphis Cemetery.

His favorite Cadillac of all was a pink 1955 Fleetwood 60 Special, which replaced a pink 1954 model after it caught fire due to faulty brake lining. Elvis would own his pink Cadillac for the rest of his life. He originally bought it for his mother, but she never drove it. The pink paint was mixed just for Elvis and is known as 'Elvis Rose'. The Fleetwood has been on display since 1982 at the Elvis Presley Automobile Museum at Graceland.

Rosa Parks' Bus
The bus that helped Rosa Parks launch her role in the Civil Rights movement survives to this day. On December 1, 1955, the 42-year-old Parks boarded the bus after a long day as a seamstress. When the "whites only" seats at the front of the bus filled up, a white man asked her to get up so he could sit. Parks refused, resulting in her arrest under Jim Crow laws. Her arrest helped sparked the famed Montgomery Bus Boycott, the first of many nonviolent protests staged by marginalized black populations in America.

The General Motor's bus rusted in a field for 30 years before The Henry Ford Museum spent $300,000 restoring it. The bus is currently on display at the museum. Visitors are welcome to sit in the bus, which is filled with interactive displays and teaching tools.

Kennedy's Limousine: SS-100-X
SS-100-X was the Secret Service name given to President John F. Kennedy's navy blue 1961 Lincoln 74A Convertible. The Lincoln featured $200,000 worth of modifications, but no bulletproofing. There were several domes that fit over the top of the convertible, but it made the cabin extremely hot and was also not bullet proof. It was in this Lincoln that Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, the Texas governor and his wife sat in on November 22, 1963, when three shots fired from a book depository ended the President's life.

Surprisingly, the Lincoln was kept in service another eight years after the Kennedy's death. After the assassination, a company called Hess & Eisenhardt added reinforcements and safety measures that were missing when Kennedy rode in the car. The Lincoln was outfitted with titanium armor plating, bullet-resistant glass, and a permanent bulletproof roof. The Lincoln was also painted black by incoming president Lyndon Johnson, who thought the original navy blue paint would be too reminiscent of the assassination. In 1967 the presidential limo was replaced, but the 1961 Lincoln was kept in the fleet, doing less important duties until it retired to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich., in 1978. The car is still on display there and is rumored to be haunted.

Click the link to read the full article from AOL Autos and learn what happened to other legendary vehicles: http://aol.it/11G6oQR