November 1, 2024
Luc Gagne
The last Cadillac of King of Rock’n Roll is making a new foray into the collectors’ market, the first in a decade. British auctioneer Bonhams|Cars will offer this 1977 Seville sedan which belonged to Elvis Presley (1936-1977) through an online auction which will take place from November 4 to 25, 2024.
Specialists at this auction house claim that this Seville is the last automobile purchased by Presley for his personal use. It would also be the last automobile that he would have driven a few days before his death, which occurred on August 16, 1977. They estimate, finally, that it will be sold for a sum much higher than US$100,000. The auctioneer also specifies that the “ELVIS 1” Tennessee license plates displayed on the car are not included in the sale.
The “little” Cadillac
Remember that the Seville was created by General Motors to help Cadillac better compete with European brands, whose hold on the North American luxury car market increased during the 1970s. Launched in 1977, in Canada , the Seville also became the most expensive model in the Cadillac range, despite dimensions that many considered “small”.
Its base price of $15,089 substantially exceeded those of the large Fleetwood Brougham sedan ($12,774) and the imposing front-wheel-drive Eldorado coupe ($12,681). This price clearly aligned it with the BMW 530i ($13,415) and the Mercedes-Benz 240D ($14,565) — Editor’s note: prices taken from Car Guide 77 and the magazine Carguide.
A Seville for the King
With its custom bodywork by Fisher, this Cadillac wasn’t just another car for the King. A great car enthusiast, Elvis himself chose the two-tone colors, burgundy and silver, and the gray leather interior. He had also equipped it with a CB radio to be able to communicate at all times with the Graceland kitchen, but also with the guard post, so that the gate giving access to his domain could be opened.
On the mechanical side, on the other hand, this Seville had not undergone any changes. It had the standard 180 hp 5.7L V8, which drove the rear wheels through a 3-speed automatic transmission. Currently, its odometer reads 57,998 mi (93,336 km).
A journey spanning half a century
The journey of this Seville is as rich in twists and turns as that of its first owner. Nine days after Elvis’ death, his father, Vernon Presley (for whom Elvis had originally purchased the car), transferred ownership of the car to Ginger Alden, Elvis’ then-fiancée.
The car subsequently became part of the famous collection of Jimmy Velvet, founder of the Elvis Presley Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, before finally being sold to Australian Greg Page for US$101,500. from an auction held in Las Vegas in 1994. Former member of the popular children’s musical group The Wigglesthis Australian artist was also an Elvis enthusiast. Now aged 52, he claims to have long owned the fourth largest collection of Elvis Presley memorabilia in the world!
In 2014, the Seville was sold to Suzannah Horn, a well-known British collector, at an auction hosted by Graceland. According to the company LiveAuctioneers, which was responsible for the sale, Ms. Horn would have paid US$65,000 to purchase this artifact of the famous American singer, whose odometer then showed 57,994 mi! Subsequently, the King’s Cadillac was loaned to the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, England, where it was exhibited for several years to the delight of the public.
Of note, it is said that Elvis purchased more than 200 Cadillacs during his life. He bought these cars for himself, for his friends, his family and even, in some cases, complete strangers who had helped him or who had been kind to him!
Photos : Bonhams et archives LG
About the author
His parents say the first three words he uttered were: mom, dad and… Volvo. We don’t know in what order he said them, but everything suggests that he was predestined for a career in the great world of automobiles. It was through the media that he approached it. Since the 1980s, he has edited various periodicals, from the VAQ Classic Car Magazine (his “school”) to AutoMag, including the bilingual magazine Formula 2000, without forgetting Le Monde de l’auto and Auto Journal. At the start of the 21st century, he wrote for Le Devoir, as well as for Auto123.com, AutoFocus.ca, Auto.Vtélé.ca and the excellent industry site AutoMédia.ca. Currently, he can be read in the pages of AnnuelAuto.ca and in L’Annuel de l’automobile, a book he helped launch in 2001.