Elvis Presley’s Cars

Elvis fans will be familiar with the King of rock’n’roll’s love of cars, particularly Cadillacs, of which he owned many. It wasn’t only Cadillacs Elvis loved, he was partial to anything that happened to catch his eye. He was known to see a car in a showroom, stop, and buy it on the spot. He bought cars for friends and family, perhaps most famously the ‘55 Cadillac he bought for his Mum Gladys (who did not have a license and had never driven). Elvis loved homegrown cars best of all – especially top of the range luxury cars including Lincolns and Chryslers, though he was partial to an occasional European exotic.

The King reputedly owned over one hundred cars during his life, though the exact number will probably never be known. We’ll stick to the best known of Elvis cars, from his first in 1953 until the last car he purchased shortly before his death in 1977.

1942 Lincoln Zephyr

For his 18th birthday in January of 1953, Vernon Presley bought a 1942 Lincoln Zephyr as a gift for his son. Vernon paid $50 for the old Zeph, which reputedly wasn’t the most reliable.

1954 Cadillac

On the cusp of major fame and earning money as a performer, in early 1955 Elvis bought a used 1954 Cadillac. In two-tone pink and white, Elvis and his band used the car to get to and from gigs until, tragically, it caught fire in Arkansas in the summer of ‘55. 'The first car I bought was the most beautiful car I've ever seen. It was second hand but I parked it outside my hotel the day I got it and stayed up all night just looking at it. It caught fire and burned up on the road...' Elvis Presley. 

1955 Cadillac Fleetwood Series 60

Undeterred, a month or so after losing his ‘54 Caddy in a fire, Elvis purchased another Cadillac. Purchased brand new in blue with a black roof, Elvis had the car repainted in pink and it gave to his mother.

1956 Ford Thunderbird

Who could blame Elvis for spending his hard earned on a new 1956 T-bird, Ford’s smash hit two-seater sporty car released in 1955. Nothing much is known of Elvis’ Thunderbird or how long he owned it, but there are a few surviving photos of him with the car.

1954 Cadillac Series 75 Fleetwood Limousine

Elvis bought the 1954 Fleetwood Limousine in the spring of 1956. Originally blue, Elvis had the car repainted in yellow. A year later Elvis moved to Graceland, employing the limo to ferry livestock to his new mansion. Reportedly the car smell so bad afterwards even fumigating it didn’t get rid of the smell, so Elvis got rid of the car instead.

Messerschmitt | June 1956

In Mid-August 1957, Elvis traded this Messerschmitt for a two-and-a-half hour shopping spree at Lansky Brothers' clothing store on Beale Street in Memphis.

1956 Cadillac Eldorado

Elvis and June Juanico flew to Houston to purchase this car on June 12, 1956 at a cost of $10,000. Originally white with a black interior, Elvis squashed a handful of grapes on the fender and told the customizer, Jimmy Sanders of Memphis (who also customized the pink '55 Fleetwood), that was the colour he wanted. The upholstery was changed to white roll and pleated leather, and the floor covered in mouton fur dyed purple. Elvis' initials 'EP' entwined with a guitar and two musical notes inscribed in leather adorned the floor mats and overhead. Elvis traded it in on December 23rd 1957.

BMW 507s

Elvis' first car in Germany was an old Volkswagen which he eventually gave to his German karate instructor.

On December 21 1958, Elvis leased a BMW 507 from BMW Glöckler. The car was a 'used' one and Elvis knew this, formerly driven by racing ace Hans Stuck. Elvis was assured by Mr Glöckler that 'the car was very well run-in by Mr. Stuck'. Stuck had raced the car in several sports car events, but the engine was modified for Elvis to use on a daily basis. (So the car was quite special).

Elvis in his white BMW 507 in front Goethestraße 14, in Bad Nauheim - June 1959.

The price seemed very reasonable - the equivalent of $3,750 USD, instead of $7,160 for a brand new one. Not understanding the contract written in German Elvis thought he was buying the car. But no, he later learned it was only on lease and had to be returned when he left Germany. In August 1959 Elvis swapped the white sports car at BMW Glöckler for a red 507 which he drove until October 1959.

1960 Lincoln Continental Mark 5

This 1960 Lincoln Continental Mark 5 automobile was specially ordered by Elvis in the summer of 1959 while in the Army and stationed in Germany. The Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company sent one of the very first 1960 Lincolns, serial #32, to Hess and Eisenhardt to be customized for Elvis. They were the world-famous company who built the Lincoln X-100 limousine which Kennedy was assassinated in.

Rolls Royce Phantom V

In January 1961, Elvis signed a 5-year contract with Hal Wallis. To celebrate he went out and bought a Rolls Royce Phantom V from a Beverly Hills dealer only to bring it home and have his mothers' chickens peck away at their reflections in the elegant finish. Most people would have just shot the birds but Elvis just chose to have the car repainted four or five times.

1960 Cadillac Series 75 Fleetwood Limousine

This vehicle is the ultimate in luxury and opulence. Costing $100,000, it was customized by George Barris with gold plated interior gadgets such as a phone, shoe buffer, refrigerator, entertainment console with a ten record automatic changer RCA record player, swivel TV and tape deck. Forty coats of exterior paint made with pearl, diamond dust and oriental fish scales were used on the outside. Hubcaps, wheel covers, headlight rims and the front grille are gold plated in 24kt gold. Gold lame drapes were used to cover the back windows and to separate the front and back seats. Truly a vehicle fit for a King!

1962 Ford Thunderbird

Elvis takes delivery of his Ford Thunderbird:1962.

In 1962 Elvis purchased a Ford Thunderbird.

Salesman Ernie Barrasso:'Elvis and I grew up in the same blue-collar neighborhood', 'and although we went to different schools, we knew one another. I thought he was a little on the freaky side because of his long hair and the way he dressed. But he was always a nice person and we got along'.

Barrasso still remembers the day the Ford Thunderbird convertible was delivered to Memphis. 'They made only 200 of these particular cars, and we got one of them because we were such a large dealership. It was a unique car - red with a black interior and a movable steering column that broke to the right. A friend of mine saw it and said, 'I'll bet Elvis would buy that car'.

Barrasso made three trips to Graceland to tell Elvis about the sporty-looking Thunderbird. 'One Sunday, I left a brochure, and the next day he drove down in his Cadillac and asked to see the car, which was on the showroom floor. The wire wheels caught his eye immediately. As I was showing him the breakaway steering wheel, he asked how much?

'Sixty-one hundred', I said.

'I'll take it', he said.

Elvis wanted the car in 15 minutes, and a crowd gathered while they got it ready.

When Elvis drove off in the Thunderbird, he said, 'I'll send somebody to pick up the Cadillac'. Elvis paid $6,284 for the 1962 8-cylinder sport roadster T-bird.

Barrasso says, 'Selling that car was the thrill of my life, but it turned out to be an unhappy experience for Elvis'. The Wire Wheels were associated with service problems and bad publicity from the very beginning, with complaints from customers about flat tires on their Roadsters due to slow air leaks.

A couple of days after the sale, Elvis flew to Hollywood to make a movie. Two employees were assigned to drive the car out. Along the way they discovered some of the wires on the fancy wire wheel covers had come loose and were knocking against the car. They needed replacing, but the company that made them had gone out of business. So, plain, ordinary wheels were substituted.

When Elvis saw that the spiffy wire wheels were missing and couldn't be replaced, he called Detroit and demanded to talk to 'Mr. Ford'. When Edsel Ford heard the story, he told Elvis to return the car to the nearest dealer and he'd get his money back. 'I was disappointed,' admits Barrasso, 'but after the problem with the wheels, Elvis was never comfortable with the car. I just wish I'd had the money to buy it back'.

1967 Lincoln Executive Limousine

Above, Elvis admires the 1967 Lincoln Executive Limousine given to him by Colonel Tom Parker.

Mercedes-Benz 600

Elvis purchased a 1969 six-door Mercedes-Benz 600 in the spring of 1970.

Stutz Blackhawks

https://www.elvis.com.au/presley/elvis-presleys-stutz-blackhawks.shtml

 1971 Stutz Blackhawk is a car as characteristic of its era as it is of its first owner. With a black exterior and interior, plenty of chrome and gold-wire wheels with wide whitewalls, nothing quite says “excess” like this Stutz. Or Elvis Presley. A generous potentate, the King of Rock & Roll was as flamboyant as the cars he bought for himself and his friends. After a few years of ownership, Elvis gifted his first Stutz to Elias Ghanem, the house doctor for the Las Vegas Hilton, who helped Elvis through a bout of pneumonia and purportedly discouraged the King’s penchant for prescription pills

1971 yellow De Tomaso Pantera sports car in 1974 for $2,400 as a gift to then-girlfriend Linda Thompson.

Elvis driving his De Tomaso Pantera.

Elvis bought a ’71 De Tomaso Pantera mid-engine supercar for his girlfriend Linda Thompson. When the car broke down he shot it, another time he shot the steering wheel when behind the wheel when the car refused to run right. A girlfriend of Elvis was a passenger when he had the Pantera up to 130mph.

https://www.elvis.com.au/presley/elvis-presleys-1971-de-tomaso-pantera.shtml

1975 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4

In 1976 Elvis purchased a used 1975 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4. This car is currently on display at Graceland.

1977 Cadillac Seville

This 1977 Cadillac Seville, two-tone burgundy and silver with white leather interior was the last Cadillac Elvis purchased.