Elvis Presley’s Custom Plane Goes for 430K at Auction
One Elvis Presley megafan just scored big, placing the highest bid on the rock 'n' roll icon's custom plane. It sold for $430,000 at an auction on Saturday (May 27).
The plane, offered by a private seller in a GWS Auction Inc., looks straight out of the 1950s, complete with red velvet seats, a shag carpet and wood paneling interior. Presley owned the 1962, one-of-a-kind Lockhead Jetsar with his father Vernon, and it is just one of many items that was included in the massive celebrity memorabilia auction, which wrapped over the weekend.
"It is still in its original condition, and has been privately owned for over 35 years. The jet has been featured on TV with National Geographic, and has been a huge tourist attraction at the in (sic) Roswell, NM," the custom aircraft is described in an auction posting. GWS guesses that the luxury item is priced in the ballpark of $2-$3.5 million and is in need of restoring, as the plane has no engines and the cockpit is due for an update. The plane, which currently sits in an airfield in Roswell, N.M., opened at $10,000. It will need to be disassembled to ship to the buyer, Fortune reports.
The music legend will receive a posthumous honor in 2017 when one of his signature hits, “Jailhouse Rock,” is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The song was a chart-topping hit for Presley and was featured in a movie of the same name. Merle Haggard is also set to earn this same honor for his hit, “Okie From Muskogee."
Two other Elvis planes are on display at the Elvis Presley Museum in Memphis.
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