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Although not exactly a performance enthusiast \u2014 despite his star turns as a racer in movies like “Viva Las Vegas,” “Speedway,” and “Spinout” \u2014 Elvis Presley definitely seemed to have a lifelong passion for cars. And while he may be best associated with Cadillacs, especially of the pink variety, his favorite may have been the 1973 Stutz Blackhawk III in which he took his final drive. (Well, his final final ride, of course, came in a Cadillac hearse, designed as a flex for dead people<\/a>, but the Blackhawk was the last car he actually piloted.)<\/p>\n In fact, Presley was enough of a Stutz fan that he purchased five of them over his lifetime, including two he gave away. There’s even evidence that Presley was Stutz’ first Blackhawk customer: The story goes that Stutz’s chief dealer took an early prototype to Los Angeles to display at the LA International Auto Show, hoping to attract some star power along the way and eventually give the car to Frank Sinatra. But when Elvis saw the Blackhawk, he was so eager to buy it that he agreed to appear in promotional photos with it \u2014 something Sinatra was reluctant to do. Guess who got the car.<\/p>\n Now, just to be clear, the Blackhawk wasn’t born from the original Stutz company, which had been founded in 1898, rose to prominence with models like the Bearcat, and was sunk by the Great Depression. Stutz 2.0 came about under the direction of moneyman James O’Donnell and automotive designer extraordinaire Virgil Exner, with an assist from John Delorean, then at Pontiac. Yep, underneath its glitzy good looks, the Blackhawk was based on the 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix. Here’s how one got into Elvis Presley’s hands.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Restarting Stutz as a neoclassic brand<\/p>\n For our purposes, the Stutz story starts in 1968, when O’Donnell \u2014 who had previously invested in a failed scheme to bring back Duesenburg \u2014 decided to try his luck with a different old-school auto brand. Yet once he acquired the rights to the Stutz name, he needed an actual car to sell. That’s where Exner comes in. He, too, had been involved in the Duesenberg project, and it must have been natural to work for O’Donnell on the Stutz instead.<\/p>\n The result was a prime example of the neoclassic, which combines extreme 1930s-inspired bodywork, over-the-top luxury cues, and the underpinnings of a contemporary American car \u2014 like the Grand Prix that sat beneath Exner’s striking design. O’Donnell and Exner had made a deal for the cars with John Delorean, and the process of conversion into a Blackhawk was no simple matter.<\/p>\n First, finished Grand Prixes were shipped to Modena, Italy, where the Carrozzeria Padane coachworks had its home. The cars were then stripped down pretty much to the bare bones before their new Blackhawk bodies and interiors were mounted. As for the cabins, those were essentially bespoke setups tailored to their unique owners. The Blackhawk limo of Saudi Arabia’s King Khaled, for instance, had a hydraulically operated throne that could rise through the roof for better visibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n The cabin of the king of rock and roll, because his car was a prototype, mostly had standard touches like 18-karat gold-plated trim, a red leather interior, burled walnut accents, and headliners\/carpets sourced from Australian lamb’s wool \u2014 although a telephone was also installed at Presley’s request.\u00a0It might still work, too, since a software engineer once got a 1993 car phone to connect<\/a> with a modern one.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Other cool cars owned by the king<\/p>\n We mentioned Presley’s penchant for pink Cadillacs at the start, and his first was a 1954 Fleetwood Series 60. Despite its luxury bona fides, this bechromed beauty was used as a tour vehicle for the band. Premium-for-their-time standard features like power steering and electric wipers, along with options like power brakes and a four-way power seat, no doubt helped on the long road trips, as did its 331-cubic-inch V8 that routed 215 horsepower through a Hydra-Matic 4 speed slushbox. (Here’s why automatic transmissions are called that<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Elvis also had some performance machines in his stable, including an exceedingly rare 1957 BMW 507 roadster once driven by racer Hans Stuck. By October 1958, the car was retired from competition and being offered by an auto dealership in Frankfurt, Germany \u2014 just a few miles from\u00a0where\u00a0Pvt. Elvis Presley of the U.S. Army was fulfilling his military commitment. The car did drop out of the limelight at some point, but a little less than 60 years later, BMW meticulously restored Elvis’ 507<\/a> and showed it at the 2016 Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, California.<\/p>\n Another significant sports car from Presley’s collection is his 1975 Ferrari Dino 308GT4. Bought used in 1976, the car was called the “Black Mamba” for its black-on-black good looks, and it plays a key role in the Elvis mythos: The Memphis Police Department made him an honorary captain the same year, so \u2014 according to the folks at Graceland<\/a> \u2014 he fitted the Ferrari with dash-mounted police lights and started conducting his own traffic stops. Only he gave out autographs instead of tickets. Those were the days!<\/p>\n
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