Lot 161

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Description:

Obama Barack

Barack Obama First New Vehicle Ever Owned, 2000 Grand Cherokee Limited, With Superb Chain of Custody!

The very first vehicle President Barack Obama ever purchased new was a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited -- finished in black and owned by the president, who at the time was a state senator in Illinois. This fantastic piece of history is the perfect reminder that   someone can come from humble beginnings and become president. Once Obama became President, he toured the  Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit that built the vehicle -- a tour he followed up with a speech near the assembly line. "The first new car I ever bought was a Grand Cherokee," he said to a thunderous applause, while starting his speech. " …. Up until that point, I had some old beat-up used cars …. I still remember walking into that showroom and driving out with that new car, that new car smell, everything worked, everything was electronic and I had to roll up my windows up until that point. So I got some good memories of that car ..."

The interesting ownership chain of custody also followed a humble path. After President Obama owned the Jeep, it ended up at a used-car dealership in the Chicago area, where it was purchased by a woman named Liz Murphy in 2004. By then, President Obama was running for a seat in the U.S. senate -- so with considerable foresight, Murphy photocopied the title (a copy of which will be included with this lot),  which indicated that the previous owner was Barack Obama of 5450 S. East View Park, Chicago, Ill., 60615, hoping the vehicle might be worth something someday. Indeed, it was: Even though she drove it daily as if it were any other Grand Cherokee, she auctioned it off with Robert Edward Auction in 2010, after President Obama's ascent to the highest elected office in the U.S.. The new owner became John Reznikoff, renown history buff, collector and the owner of University Archives, who then sold the car later in 2010. After nearly 9 years, the current owner is offering the car once again with it now becoming available via University Archives auction. The car also comes with numerous pieces of Obama personally owned artifacts found in the glove compartment of the car for additional provenance listed below:

1. A handwritten note from John Millner to Senator Obama, ".. I wanted to discuss a few ideas about the profiling bill … I would like to see it work .. Please give me a call at your convenience. …"

As it would turn out Obama had helped pass an anti-profiling law as a state senator in Illinois, and cosponsored a similar bill, the End Racial Profiling Act, as a U.S. senator for the state. At the time Millner was Chief of Police of Elmhurst Illinois from 1986 to 2003 and signed the note as Elmhurst PD, however later he served as Illinois State Representative for the 55th district from 2003 to 2005, and later became the Republican member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 28th district from 2005 to 2013.

2. Notes in Obama's hand of a lunch order.

3. Six Obama for Illinois Senator Cards.

4. One Barack Obama business card as State Senator.

5. Six business cards from people and places of interest to Obama mixed in with his other business cards.

6. Two plastic cards for the Grant Park Underground parking garage, 3 paper card receipts for the Grant Park South Parking lot at 325 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago IL, one Valet parking number, and one parking receipt for the Parking Plaza Garage at 1 Convention Center Plaza in Springfield, IL.

7. Two paper receipts, each for $20 Economy parking at the Chicago Midway Airport, both dated from 2003, while Obama owned the car.

All maintenance records on the car from the time of ownership beginning with Liz Murphy will also accompany the purchase for both provenance and records.The current odometer reading on the car is 134,404 miles

Since the assassination of John Kennedy, both current and former Presidents are not allowed to operate motor vehicles on the open road. For security reasons, high profile government officials and former officials, like Barack Obama and Joe Biden, as well as both Bill and Hillary Clinton, have to rely on their appointed secret service teams, who are trained in “evasive and defensive driving maneuvers". As such, this Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicle would also represent one of the last few vehicles that Obama was able to drive on the open road.

The car will come with a Letter of Authenticity from John Reznikoff/University Archives stating the provenance and chain of custody for the vehicle.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

This will require special acquisition arrangements.

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Shipping

We do our own in-house worldwide shipping!

Applicable shipping and handling charges will be added to the invoice. We offer several shipping options, and remain one of the few auction houses who proudly provides professional in-house shipping as an option to our clients. All items will ship with signature required, and full insurance. Most items are sent via Federal Express, with P. O. Box addresses being sent through USPS. We insure through Berkley Asset Protection with rates of $.70 per $100 of value, among the lowest insurance rates in the industry. Our shipping department cameras document every package, both outgoing and incoming, for maximum security. In addition, we compare our shipping and handling rates against those of other auction houses, to ensure that our charges are among the lowest in the trade.

Upon winning your item(s), you will receive an invoice with our in-house shipping and handling fees included. ***We will ship to the address as it appears on your invoice, unless you inform us otherwise, immediately upon your receipt of invoice***

Third Party Shipping Option: If a third party shipper is preferred, the buyer is responsible for contacting them directly to make shipping arrangements. For your convenience, we have provided some recommended shippers. For your protection, we will require a signed release from you, confirming your authorization for us to release your lots to your specified third party Please copy and paste this following link into your browser: http://universityarchives.com/UserFiles/ShippingInfo.pdf. At that point, our responsibility and insurance coverage for your item(s) ceases. Items picked up by third party shippers are required to pay Connecticut sales tax. Items requiring third party shipping due to being oversized, fragile or bulky will be denoted in the item description.

Please see our full terms and conditions for names of suggested third party shippers.


After payment has been made in full, University Archives will ship your purchase within 5 business days following receipt of full payment for item.Packages shipped internationally will have full value declared on shipping form. International buyers will be responsible for any customs fees incurred.

Please remember that the buyer is responsible for all shipping costs from University Archives' offices in Westport, CT to the buyer's door. Please see full Terms and Conditions of Sale.

University Archives

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000