What Makes Elvis’ Pink Cadillac Special? (2024)

Elvis Presley owned hundreds of Cadillacs during his lifetime of just 42 years but there was one Cadillac that was very close to his heart and he painted that in his custom shade of pink. The car was a memory of his superhit song, “Baby Let’s play house”.

Apart from that, the pink Cadillac became a symbol of Elvis’s flamboyant style and larger-than-life personality. Initially, he had bought this for his mom, but it was later used by him. The Pink Cadillac captured represented the success and fame that came with his career. Apart from that the car featured various customizations, like a custom number plate, which was “1ELVIS”, some custom paint jobs, and gold trims on the exterior, among others. Today we deep dive into the past to let you know everything about it.

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What makes Elvis’ Pink Cadillac special?

Elvis Persley always dreamt of owning a Cadillac. It was his dream car and whenever he used to spot one on the road it always made him eager to own it. As his luck and hard work would have it, he did not own just one, but hundreds of Cadillacs at a point in time which he later sold off.

After his song “Baby Let’s play house” became his first song to appear on the national chart and even got up to #5 on the billboard country singles chart in July 1955, he decided to paint one of his blue-black Cadillac into “Elvis Rose” shade of pink which he talks about in his famous song. And this Cadillac became very famous and also became a sort of memory of the song for Elvis.

History of Elvis’ Cadillacs

Elvis Presley did not own just one Cadillac in his lifetime, he was known to have brought over 200 Cadillacs which he later gave away to many of his near and dear ones. He got his first Cadillac which was Fleetwood series 60 in March 1955. And this Cadillac was really special to him as he always had dreamt of owning one. But as luck would have it, this Cadillac did not last for a long time as it met with a serious accident due to brake lining failure in June 1955 itself. Apart from the Cadillac, Elvis owned a Rolls-Royce Phantom V, a BMW 507, and even a DeTomaso Pantera.

The original Pink Cadillac.

After the first Cadillac got destroyed in an accident in July 1955, Elvis bought a Cadillac Fleetwood Series 60, which was the actual pink Cadillac. But this Cadillac was not in its Pink shade from the beginning. The original body paint of the car was a dual-tone combination of black and blue. But as soon as Elvis’s song “Baby Let’s play house” became popular, he decided to turn this very Cadillac into the car he sings about.

So without giving it a second thought, he turned his blue-black Cadillac into a special “Elvis Rose” shade of pink. And for this job, he trusted non-other than his very own neighbor, Art who did this magnificent paint job for him with the particular custom paint. Later, Elvis gifted this car to his mother, but since Mrs. Presley did not have a driver’s license to drive around the city, It was usually Elvis who was driving the pink Cadillac after that.

The original Pink Cadillac also met with an accident.

Accidents were a crucial part of Elvis’s cars, and even this Cadillac was not spared from them and met with an accident in the month of September 1955. Scotty More, a crucial member of the blue moon boys and one lead guitarist, crashed the vehicle in a passing pick-up truck in Texas causing damage worth $1,000. Thanks to the contract signed with RCA in November 1955, the car got replaced with upholstery, the body was retouched for the dents, and got the roof was painted white.

Exteriors

If we had to describe Persley’s pink Cadillac in a single sentence it would be, “Classic and Contemporary”. Originally painted with a blue and black shade, the car was a full-size four-door luxury car painted to Elvis’s custom choice of pink (Elvis Rose) and later with a white roof after an accident. The color made it instantly recognizable as Persley’s car when it was out on the roads. The car had typical vintage car looks as per today’s day and standards, and use to feel special both inside and out. Apart from the pink shade, there was extensive chrome used in the mirrors, wheel hubs, side moldings, front grille, and rear bumper.

Interiors

Similar to the exterior, Elvis’s Pink Cadillac had the same color theme running in the interiors as well, which is pink with a lot of chrome inserts in various places like the dashboard, steering wheel, AC vents, and even the switches were made of chrome. The car was a comfortable four-seater with leather upholstery all around and had all the basic infotainment features like a speedometer, AC, and music system among others like all the luxury vintage cars.

Elvis Presley’s Pink Cadillac Engine specifications and dimensions.

The Pink Cadillac Fleetwood Series 60 which Elvis had bought was a full-size luxury car that had a 6.0L V8 engine that was mated to a 4-Speed Hydra-Matic gearbox and this powertrain was worthy enough to provide enough power for any terrain for the vehicle. Apart from that, the car weighed 4,700–5,000 lb, had 133 inches of wheelbase, a length of 227.4 inches, and an overall height of 62.1 in.

Elvis and his obsession with Cadillacs: The 1954 Cadillac Series 75 Fleetwood Limousine

As mentioned above, Elvis Presley did not have one or two, but hundreds of Cadillacs, one of them being a 1954 Cadillac Fleetwood limousine which he had just bought before going on a tour in 1956. The car was originally in yellow paint when bought, but Presley later painted it yellow. In 1957, when Elvis moved to Graceland, this particular Cadillac was used to stock the grounds.

There was even a time when this very vehicle was used to haul fowl- chickens, ducks, guineas, and a turkey back to Graceland. The car was left in such a poor condition after Elvis had left and sadly it could never be restored even after sending it to Cadillac dealers for getting serviced and cleaned. Frustrated with the condition of this car, Presley convinced his family to get another Cadillac, and in came a Black 1958 Cadillac limousine.

Elvis’s 1960 Series 75 Fleetwood Limousine

Designed by George Barris, the 1960 Series 75 Fleetwood limousine was the epitome of luxury and opulence at its time and cost a whopping $100,000! The vehicle had a ton of luxury features that were ahead of its time like, a phone, shoe buffer, refrigerator, swivel TV, and a tape deck.

There were not just one, two, or three coats but an astonishing forty coats of exterior paint made with pearl, diamond dust, and oriental fish scales which was used on the exterior. The wheel’s hub caps, covers, headlight rims, and front grille were 24kt gold plated. Typical George Barris designs you see.

Even Gold lame drapes were used to cover the back windows to separate the front and back passengers. This exclusively built car was used occasionally by Elvis in the early ’60s. The car was later donated to the Country Music Association Hall of Fame in Nashville.

Where is the Pink Cadillac now?

There were a total of three Pink Cadillacs that came into existence initially, although later people started to paint their Cadillacs pink after seeing Elvis’s car. The original Pink Cadillac of Elvis is on display at Graceland Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, and is an eye-catcher without a doubt for the visitors. Although after June 2006, after a visit from then US president George W. Bush Jr. and the Prime Minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi, the car was shifted to the front entrance of the museum.

There was also another pink Cadillac which was made by twin sisters Bonnie and Stewart Krentzman and they had access and permission to make a similar Pink Cadillac. The sole reason this car was made was to raise awareness about breast cancer and its patients along with raising money and education.

Talking of the third Pink Cadillac which was essentially a 1957 DeVille, it was on display at Presley Motors Automobile in Graceland and was auctioned last year. The vehicle was in mint condition despite being so old and went through a detailed restoration process after which it was sold to the owner with all the documentation and archive materials.

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