As chosen by you, here are the most popular stories OF ALL TIME (aka last week). Just in case you missed it.

For now, it seems that the powers that be at Barrett-Jackson are sticking by their assertion that the car up for auction is the same one that transported JFK’s body following his assassination in Tucson.

“Not only did the ambulance transport JFK following his untimely death, it’s one of the finest examples of an un-restored ambulance from that time period,” stated Steve Davis, president of Barrett-Jackson. “It’s also, without a doubt, one of the most significant and historical vehicles ever offered for sale.”

Read the original story below:

Ugh. This one’s hard to write because we love the Barrett-Jackson car auction, and frankly, our state doesn’t need any more black eyes. But it looks like the much-hyped JFK ambulance that is scheduled to be auctioned off tomorrow is a (near-perfect) FAKE.

It’s a long story, but apparently some dedicated internet sleuths have proven that the real 1963 Pontiac Bonneville ambulance, which was used to transport the slain President’s body to autopsy after being flown back to Washington DC from Dallas, was actually destroyed in 1986. And they have the pics to prove it.

Meanwhile, Barrett-Jackson has confirmed to Jalopnik, the website that broke the story, that the Scottsdale-based auction company will be holding a news conference today to reveal the results of its own investigation.

According to the story, ”In a probe with as many twists as one might expect from a JFK assassination artifact, the history buffs of the Professional Car Society were able to not only poke holes in the documentation provided by the seller of the ’63 Pontiac Bonneville ambulance, but produce photographic proof that the real vehicle ceased to exist in 1986.”

All of which was news to Barrett-Jackson officials, which had announced in December that it would offer the JFK ambulance for sale, saying it could fetch more than $1M. At the time, they said it was owned by local car collector, who had bought it at a government surplus auction, after sitting abandoned in a storage depot for decades. As proof, they wrote, “Barrett-Jackson has in its possession copies, supplied at our request by the [seller], of recently uncovered documents … from the Department of the Navy/Surgeon General, as well as Superior Coach Corporation, that for the first time, ties the Navy registration number and the VIN number of the 1963 Pontiac Bonneville chassis together.”

Well, it turns out that was wrong, as the car had actually been donated to the John F. Kennedy Library, and ”on June 26, 1986, the hearse had been crushed in a Boston junkyard, under witness from the Library, apparently at the request of the Kennedy clan. Photos from that day show the ambulance with the ID numbers from 1963 still on its rear door” (pictured at left).

Meanwhile, Barrett-Jackson officials have posted this response in prelude to their press conference scheduled for today. “It’s important to understand that Barrett-Jackson is not affirmatively making any representations as to the history or particular provenance of this car, and we will be clear about all of these facts with the bidders who register at auction to participate in the sale of this vehicle. What we are trying to do is uphold the high standard we’ve set for ourselves in following up on legitimate inquiries and questions related to a vehicle as important as the Kennedy ambulance.”

Looks like yet another mysterious twist in JFK assassination tragedy.

[Jalopnik]