August 16 marks the 47th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley (unless you assume he is still among us). He was beloved for his music and his highly entertaining films, but he was also a through-and-through car guy.
He owned a lot of cars in his lifetime, many of which have been immortalized in diecast. So here are some of our favorites. Yeah, thereâs gonna be a few pink Cadillacs!
Greenlight Elvis Series – Greenlight did a whole series of Elvisâ cars in 1/64 scale, including this 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood Series 60 Greenlight. The packaging included a nice big light âELVISâ logo, and some came with a larger scale figure of the man himself.
The Stutz Blackhawk is the pinnacle of cheesy but cool 1970s style extremeism, and of course Presley drove one. His was black, in a departure from his favorite Caddies. Greenlight did a rare model of that one too.
Elvis drove a lot of cool cars in his movies over the years including this â59 MGA roadster from Blue Hawaii. The movie is equal parts silly and iconic, but the car is rock solid.
Matchbox 1960 Jeep Surrey – Speaking of Blue Hawaii, Elvis drove a pink Jeep Surrey, in the movie a vehicle perfect for the island. Itâs a silly ride, but if you are being honest with yourself, you want one. The Matchbox series of 1/64-scale Elvis cars had nice 3D-ish dioramas.
Corgi 1957 Ford Thunderbird –Â The King owned an original T-bird Roadster, but color images are hard to come by. They appear to be red, but pink kind of makes sense, s0 thatâs what Corgi went with.
Jada 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood – Yeah, that â55 Fleetwood was probably the most iconic ride of all the ones he owned. Jada has you covered in 1/24 scale with a figure of Presley in the appropriate era, pose, and scale.
Norev BMW 507 Roadster – A pivotal moment in Elvisâ career was when he enlisted in the US Army and served in a mostly ambassadorial role in Germany. While he was there, he acquired a BMW 507, possibly the most beautiful and tasteful car he ever owned. Norev made a model of the 507, but not an Elvis-related one.Â
Johnny Lightning 1965 Ford Mustang Convertible –Â There are a lot of collectibles that just sort of cash in on the Elvis image. Sure, he was alive when the 1964 Mustang debuted, but there doesnât seem to be any recollection of him owning one. Nonetheless, there are countless diecast cars that have Elvis branding attached to them. Johnny Lightning did a series of them.
Hasbro NASCAR Taurus –Â Perhaps the most Elvis-and-automobile-centric movie of all was Viva Las Vegas, featuring a surprisingly plausible plot (yes resort workers did in fact perform on stage for guests back then!) and lots of car racing. Surprisingly, there doesnât seem to be any diecast commemorating that film. But Rusty Wallace drove a NASCAR Ford Taurus commemorating the movie, sponsored by the Vegas Tourism Board.
We havenât even attempted to list all of the Elvis models out there. Tell us which golden hits you can think of!
