Elvis Presley treated cars as gifts, toys and rolling status symbols, and his garage reflected that range. European sports cars, American luxury sedans and even a three-wheeled microcar all passed through his hands. Here are twelve of the vehicles tied to him, with the details that survive in museum and auction records.
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1. BMW 507: Delivered in December
Elvis took delivery on December 20, 1958 of one of just 254 BMW 507s built, as the BMW Group press release on the car’s comeback at the Pebble Beach concours recounts. The date places the roadster in his life during the late 1950s.
With only 254 built, the roadster was a rarity from the day it left the factory. The dated delivery and the car’s later appearance at a concours explain why it draws attention, since few two-seaters combine such low production with so famous an early owner.
2. Pink 1955 Cadillac: A Gift for Gladys
Elvis bought the pink Cadillac on July 5, 1955 and gave it to his mother Gladys, according to Wikipedia’s article on the car. The car is on permanent display at Graceland, where visitors can see it.
The Cadillac links a young star’s purchase to a gesture toward his mother, which gives it a clear personal story. Few vehicles tied to him carry such a simple narrative, and its place at Graceland keeps the story open to the public rather than locked away in a private collection.
3. Stutz Blackhawk: The First Blackhawk
The very first Stutz Blackhawk sold went to Elvis on October 9, 1970 for $26,500, Wikipedia’s Blackhawk entry records. That made the singer the opening customer for the model.
Being the first buyer of a new luxury coupe gave him a place in the origin story of the Blackhawk. The price and the precise date make the purchase easy to document, which suits a car that drew attention precisely for being a rare and expensive novelty.
4. De Tomaso Pantera: Bullet Holes in the Wheel
The yellow 1971 Pantera, acquired in 1974, carries two bullet holes in the steering wheel and one in the floor, Jalopnik reports. It is displayed at the Petersen Museum.
The damage is the reason the car is remembered, because it preserves a specific and rather dramatic moment. A De Tomaso that might otherwise be prized for its Italian styling and American-built engine is instead valued as a piece of Presley folklore on show in a museum.
5. Rolls-Royce Phantom V: Rolls-Royce at Auction
Elvis’s James Young-bodied Phantom V sold for $396,000 at Bonhams in 2014, as SlashGear’s Presley list notes. Only 832 Phantom Vs were produced.
The sale price is the figure behind this gallery’s headline example, and it stands as the clearest dollar value in the collection’s records. A low production count and a famous first owner combined to lift the limousine, and the auction result gives a concrete measure of what the Presley connection can add to an already exclusive Rolls-Royce.
6. Mercedes-Benz 600: A German Limousine
Elvis acquired a Mercedes-Benz 600 in the 1970s, according to Graceland’s article on his love of cars, which also mentions a Ford T-Bird.
The record is brief, but it places the grand German limousine in a garage that also held American cars. Few other details are given, so the 600 is best understood here as one entry in a varied collection, a large and imposing car acquired during the 1970s. Without more detail, the entry stands as a plain record of an acquisition rather than a full biography.
7. Lincoln Continental Mark II: Kept From New
Elvis kept the Continental Mark II from the time it was new until a year before his death, SlashGear says, in a list of rare cars from the Presley collection.
Holding the same car across many years is a notable detail for a man who owned and gave away a large number of vehicles. The Mark II was an expensive prestige model when new, so the long period of ownership suggests the car held lasting appeal for him.
8. Messerschmitt KR200: Trade for a Microcar
Elvis traded his three-wheeled microcar to clothier Bernard Lansky, who has declined multiple offers to sell it, according to SlashGear.
The Messerschmitt KR200 is a very different machine from the large Cadillacs and Lincolns elsewhere in the collection. The refusal of repeated offers shows how much the Presley connection adds to a small and curious vehicle, and how attached its present owner remains to the little three-wheeler. Few microcars have a story that includes both a famous owner and a clothier who will not sell.
9. Solid Gold Cadillac: The Barris-Customized Tour Car
Southern Motors of Memphis sold Presley the Cadillac that became his gold car for $11,064.25 on December 22, 1959, and customizer George Barris then reworked it on a $2,000 deposit paid in November 1961 and $3,000 more the following March, according to Graceland’s gold Cadillac history.
The finished car worked as a promotional vehicle rather than a garage ornament, touring the Southeast in 1965 for the film Tickle Me and reaching Australia and New Zealand in 1968, where it raised $149,175 for charities. It has been displayed at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville since 1977.
10. Ferrari Dino 308 GT4: Dino at Graceland
A 1975 Dino Ferrari is among the Presley vehicles on show in Graceland’s car museum, according to the museum’s 25th anniversary announcement.
The listing is brief, but it confirms an Italian mid-engine sports car among the vehicles tied to the singer. Details beyond the model year are thin, so the Dino is best read as one example of the European machinery that appeared alongside the American cars in the collection. The museum setting means the Ferrari can be viewed alongside the other vehicles on the property.
11. 1956 Cadillac Eldorado convertible: An Eldorado on Display
A 1956 Cadillac Eldorado convertible is among the more than 20 cars in the Graceland car museum, which opened June 12, 1989, according to the museum’s anniversary announcement.
The open-top Cadillac sits among other vehicles on view to the public, where visitors can compare it with the pink Cadillac and the many other cars from the collection. The count of more than 20 shows how much of the garage reached the museum. That figure puts the Eldorado among the larger groups of cars on view from a single owner.
12. MG from Blue Hawaii: Blue Hawaii MG
The red MG from the film Blue Hawaii is on display at the Graceland car museum, according to the museum’s anniversary article, alongside the other vehicles from the collection.
A small British roadster makes a change of pace in a collection known for large American cars. Its screen role gives the MG a second claim to attention, as a prop from one of the singer’s own films that is now preserved for visitors. The film link means the car is tied to the singer’s screen career as well as his garage.
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