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When
his mother eyed his classic car collection of four Cadillacs, two
Limousines, a Messerschmitt sports car and
Harley Davidson motorbike she said, "Elvis
has always been crazy about Cadillacs. Why, I believe he was
only nine or ten years old when he learned to drive. In fact, we
learned together." During the war, she explained, when Vernon
Presley worked in Memphis and they were alone except for his weekend
visits. "If we were to get around any, it was up to me to do
my own driving." "He drove around the yard first, then when I
was ready to venture onto a back road to practice, I'd drive a mile,
then Elvis would drive a mile." His driving gave his
mother one tense moment. "We were parked facing a store and Elvis
mistook forward for reverse and dropped the clutch. The car shot right
up onto the curb and I thought we were going to go through the store
window. But Elvis kept his head and stopped me just in time".
He
gained his next driving experience after the family moved to Memphis,
and went back to Tupelo for visits. Vernon recalled, "The
accelerator of that old Pontiac we had was so stiff my foot would
get tired, so Elvis would sit in the middle and feed the gas while I
steered." "Elvis was almost
seventeen when he went for his driver's license," his mother
continued. "He borrowed my brother Travis Smith's car - that was
newer - to take the test and he had no trouble." His father
added, "After that there was no keeping him away from the wheel. I
remember once when we were living in Lauderdale Court. It was a hot
night and everyone was outside.
His first date was
without benefit of a car. "He was 14 years-old, I guess, and
usually he came home from school about three o'clock. But this day he
never showed up. I was that worried I was crying by the time his father
got home." "I went looking for him," says his father.
"I asked around until I learned
he's walked Bonnie Jean Davis home from school. That's where I found
him, just fixing to sit down to have supper with the Davis family. It
wouldn't have looked good to break that up, so I went home and told
Gladys to quit crying - he was all right. He was a senior when he
participated in the Road E O and had his picture taken changing a tyre.
When he came home, he told us that he had lost the race because of his
sideburns. He was disappointed; cause he just didn't like to loose at
anything. Elvis purchased his first Cadillac after his first
singled hit #1.
His former manager, Bob Neil recalled at
the time, "With him playing shows in all sorts of different places,
good transportation was a necessity, so I helped him arrange finance.
Nothing but a Cadillac would suit Elvis, so we located a good
used one. The first night he had it he was so happy he sat up all night
at a hotel-room window, just looking at it." That car,
unfortunately, brought Elvis two near death disasters.
Gladys recalls, "I had the
strangest feeling all that day, and when Bob Neal came to our door, my
knees I went right from under me. I said right away, "Something's
happened to Elvis.'" "Not to Elvis," said Bob,
"but to the car" Bob said. Apparently, the car had caught fire
and the handbrake had dragged. A truck driver driving past had noticed
and had blown his horn but Elvis paid no attention.
After another car indicated the same
thing, Elvis realised something was wrong. By that time, the whole rear
of the car was ablaze. A bus stop by and all the passengers tired to
help but there was nothing anyone could do. Elvis fought the fire until
someone pulled him away just before the gas tank blew
up. Hitchhiking to the next town Elvis hired a private plane to
take him on to his show. That day Lady-Luck was on Elvis' side. As
the plane landed a tornado hit the town and tore up most of the other
planes at the airport. It was a heartbroken Elvis who returned to
Memphis. All he could do for days was walk around repeating,
"Man I loved that car." Elvis replacement car became the
now famous pink Cadillac that he bought for his mother. When on his
first television interview Wink Martindale asked why he had so many
cars, Elvis got bashful and stammered, "You might say cars are my
hobby."
In early March, 1955 Elvis had bought his first Cadillac. It was a pink
and white 1954 Cadillac (similar to the black one pictured) and
provided transportation for Elvis and the Blue Moon Boys for about three
months. The car went up in smoke when a brake lining caught fire, on the
road between Hope and Texarkana, Ark. in June, 1955. Note the roof racks
in the pictures below, they were used to carry the Blue Moon Boys
equipment.
Unusual
Cars Elvis Owned | Car Elvis Shot
Elvis Limousines | Elvis
Motorbikes | Elvis Cadillacs
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