Colossal Car Barn Find. Elvis & Jerry Lee Lewis Time Capsule Cars

[Music] so as most y'all know I'm a huge Elvis fan and I love chasing down memorabilia specifically Elvis related Elvis of course gave away cars like candy to strangers to his entourage to family members as many as possibly 300 plus automobiles he's alone not even counting votes motorcycles and snowmobiles but in reference to the cars he of course was known for Cadillacs and Lincoln's I got to know a family several years ago that live in the Midwest here they have an automobile collection and they've amassed a string of cars that wanted Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis well we're gonna head there today we're gonna meet the family and we're gonna look at all the cars and they owned many of which long in Elvis and tear their clothes thanks so much for bringing me out here today can't wait to get in here and see what you got yeah get in here cuz I'm not an Eskimo I'm from the south I like hate oh my gosh Wow it's amazing where do we get started so 46 Ford yeah okay and Elvis's father it was his father it's steel cattle to him I never changed the title over it set behind Graceland until Vernon died and then it ended up in a car auction over in the top part of Mississippi I don't know horse I don't wear now anyway and I bought it over there okay and you've had it since the 80s yeah I've had it since 80s I think I said it was 83 okay and the the gentleman that brought it back to Graceland when Elvis and Vernon were there that would have been probably in the 60s 1960s probably 1963 I think okay okay I don't want a body back there might be a copy of it in there or in the trunk I'm pretty sure I've got photos I want to save this car setting in the carport and I'll get those to you good yeah and that's during Elvis's lifetime supposedly the car that was brought the family up from Tupelo to Memphis probably wasn't it he had owned this car before and had gotten rid of it then after Elvis had got famous some guy brings it up to the gate and told him that he had I think it Gary peppers dad's won it was there I'm not sure they work at the gutter so card lonely no feed wanna bite back anyway they called up the house and Vernon Satan I think it was Joe Esposito down took the card he didn't looked at the car and paperwork and said it was he let him up he'll with it burning sided yeah that was his old car so he bought it back ok stop right there this is where the story gets complicated our friend here states that this car was brought to the gates at Graceland and presented to Vernon as the car that the Presley's came from Tupelo to Memphis in I've always heard that story myself but here's where it takes a left-hand turn I've spoken with Becky Yancey who was a secretary at Graceland for years and even prior to speaking with her as much as 35 years ago I clipped a newspaper article as a kid about this car being presented as possibly the car that the family came up from Tupelo in but Becky Yancey said that is not the case that this car was bought by Vernon to restore and flip because he had a notion to be in the car restoration business and Elvis was basically fronting him the money to do so so after speaking with Becky again recently she's confirmed the same again she maintains the story that in fact this car was not the one from Tupelo but it's a car Vernon bought to restore and make money on so we don't want to undermine the credibility of our friend here but we do believe that this is not the car from Tupelo but this is a car that Vernon did in fact buy to restore to make money then tuck the Lambs body shop I believe with lambs had it repainted own interior put back in it and then store lost lambs charged in eleven thousand dollars in Vernon wouldn't pay it he made him taking the court name court made him settle for I think it's fourteen hundred but they're gonna gouge him because his last thing was Presley so Elvis and Vernon had it for half the time and you've had it for the other okay yeah important guy had it first 1990 lincoln big sedan Shirley Lewis's car yeah Ronald Reagan with Christ at Ford Motor Company made him a new Lincoln every year put a special top on it look like a short limo but presidential seal on the side okay put the word presidential instead of Lincoln or what it was we had on him but he made him a few copies what it was like safe someone like me couldn't get one but Jerry Lee was offered one but Jerry had to buy his his was usually like fifty three fifty five thousand stop right there rock and roll factoid Jerry Lee Lewis often had his friends and associates buy cars for him with his cash to avoid any further issues with the IRS 73 Lincoln Mark 4 and I've learned today that Elvis bought bought this car for himself drove it on the west coast right and then he gave it to your all's friend Peggy Schaefer pearl pearl Schaefer okay pearl Shh was a very close friend that has extremely close if I'm not mistaken you have a ring didn't Elvis give pearl don't you have a ring as well yeah let me show that today what he gave to her husband okay all right and then purl those years out and after he's dead that was dead no lamb anyway she said she just thought he would like for me to have it I'm still got it nice and so that couple had the movie theaters in Memphis and Elvis would rent from you know a chain of theaters pearl did so they're rather successful yeah so they could have bought their own Lincoln but Elvis yeah Elvis Bennett he had bought her a rose colored Cadillac the year before and she still had it since you tried to tell me or say cattle text you know you know ya know you want her to have a Lincoln will track down that cattle so what color would what color you won't she's rolling one in Memphis and he said flu a couple of guys out California to bring this one back for I said well what's a beautiful car great story your son's told me a 73 model yes I know jleelewis go OK on it for one was wives I Brady was Jared so Jerry Lee Lewis bought this for his wife it's a 73 Cadillac Eldorado convertible by which your son was sharing with me was the pace car 73 at the end of 500 special about it I remember it's got that emblem on it what's a big car so 66 Buick GS yeah Shakespeare Wow okay Wildcat yes and you you let you and Jerry Lee Lewis were tight you let him drive this yeah no kidding okay no wow Jerry Lee like the convertibles yeah alright so much what do we got in here we got this is the top Elvis car this is it prime prized possession of all the Elvis car alright so this is the gym This Is It this is the hound dog car the hound dog car alright yeah 24-karat go crush down alright mink Wow show me the prized Elvis car here yeah got it over here alright I see a glimpse of it kind of crowded here you go so if you had it no light now where you could see it you could see all the crushed diamonds in there it's got 40 coats of paint layer 24 karat gold here got bullet bullet proof tires for real the really bullet proof time yeah for real it's bulletproof tires Wow and we've got the real hound dog off in the safe but it's identical to this one same size everything 24 karat gold Wow and as I say if it were headed out in the Sun and that clean you can see the diamond shining in it so it's got real diamonds crusty yeah there's real diamonds crushed and all the white paint and I see ep it's got that on a wheel covers TV and it on the other side which he had in it one he had a car and he had a clothes had a camera closed-circuit camera where he could watch people watching him yeah the TV is still in there someone swiped the camera a long time ago there's an 8-track player in there which I was told about that time that he put the player in her release was involved in putting it in and this is kind of like a gold to me that's a goal Emma okay so from hit from a history standpoint with Elvis in this car so you're telling me he had this custom-made for himself by George Barris choice Paris which famous car guy did yeah involved in the Batmobile my uncles and best told me after I bought this car that he still had to pay for working Elvis and farm you know when he bought it I never did get it I don't know I know George has passed away yeah he's gone now I had met him in California I seen this car I don't love to have picked his brain got a chance too so is this and forgive me 68 69 69 69 okay and Mark 3 yeah 69 mark 3 so George Barris looks like it's got like faux fur interior yeah and a lot of custom soul and with the same material okay an entire spare tire cover made out of it wow that's it I'm seeing it as Mitchell's in the wheel and and the hubcaps got his initials sewn in the floor ap so and at what point did do you know when Elvis took possession of the car no I don't I don't have the paperwork on it so along with his warranty card and all of that it's all in Elvis's name yeah yeah so this would have been built for Elvis in 69 or did it like it's okay so yeah it's not like you took a 69 model and did it no it was no okay have you talked to any of the Memphis mafia any of those guys pertaining to this vehicle like Joe Esposito or well say like Richard Davis was oh yeah my very best friend for years okay okay but anyway yeah in fact Richard's wife and they're triplets came out to see me about a year ago oh yeah okay that was good yeah okay great sir now it's very close it was very good for him I had just met her recently in Memphis so yeah who you speak of I didn't meet the kids yeah and I had met Richard way back but you clearly were close with Richard yeah Richard of course did wardrobe and multiple other tasks for Elvis and you know this were close yeah extremely close he went through all the Taekwondo and everything with Elvis right yeah he could turn you upside down and a half a second so the hound dog that I'm looking at the real one we've got off okay yeah it's it's gold in a coat of that one except it's 24k go Wow and you had that made no no that's I think that's the one they use for a mole to make the real I see okay this is crazy unbelievable wow I'm really speechless I don't know what to say it pays a history it really is in in in its and it's kind of mysterious and the fact that trying to figure out where Elvis had it yeah you know and and his reason to have it customized at George Barris is it conceivable and I'm just asking I because I don't know is it conceivable George was having it made for Elvis as in as a gift possibly no no I almost had it made Elvis uh that was commissioned this guy he had it on the front end okay stop right there put it in park okay here's the situation this car absolutely screams of George Barris his workmanship his design his creativity and it looks like something Elvis would have driven in that era the loud gaudy just outrageous pimpmobile approach you will the problem is there's no photo identification of any kind of this car with Elvis anywhere or at any of his homes so it's a true mystery Wow it's it's multifaceted clearly Elvis's at the top of the list for George bears to be involved it looks like there's no limit oh absolutely screams Elvis and George did the what they call the solid gold Cadillac that's at the Country Music Hall of Fame George Barris restored and customize that for Elvis on that 60 Cadillac limousine in this era well thank you so much for showing me this car so Elvis 69 customized mark three customers by George Barris the interesting they were sitting somewhere besides them some nuts wrong well maybe we can work on that some country Hicks got it sitting in his building out there Wow fantastic I really appreciate your time thank you so much incredible collection thank you yeah well you know you say that guy that dies with the most toys Williams I know I can't be a winner but I just want to be in the right-half i I think maybe you want after seeing what I've seen today and I appreciate its honor thank you so much great day so you're not gonna believe what else we found in this area after speaking with Richard his son Scott is here and he's going to show us some of his toys that are very Elvis related 73 Kawasaki built for Elvis by a man by the name of Jim de few out of Benton Kentucky okay he built two bikes for Elvis the story was dad talked to him the story was he had a bike on the cover of chopper magazine and something whatever it was and Elvis had the guys call him and say hey we want you to build a couple bikes for Elvis sure didn't believe it well then yeah it turned out to be correct and this was the one with the spring our front end they called it I mean this is what bike builders today this is what they aspire to I mean this I mean this is original from the period and this is original craftsmanship at work yeah I mean when when a guy takes it and builds everything on the bike and you come up with something like this it's just that's art the lineage regarding all of us do you know from at what point there was did Elvis potentially take delivery of it you know I'm not really sure I'm sure he did but the bike ended up in Kentucky in Kentucky when we got it okay dad had talked to Jim about getting copies of the paperwork sir but Jim had had a fire at his shop and it run all of the paperwork he had along with a 32 I think it was Ford that he was really distraught over and around yeah I had talked to Jim it's been years ago as a super Chevy show in Memphis and he remembered the bike and what have you and building it and but there again there's just you hate to say it but there's no paperwork trail because it was destroyed no understood and those things happen which it makes things a little bit more maybe interesting for you and I are types they go out and discard and try to try and find it exactly okay this bike has me revved up here's the scenario once again a bike attributed to Elvis custom bill beautiful bike screams of the late 60s early 70s beautiful bike all the way around but no photo identification of Elvis with this bike so this is awesome but I know you got other toys to show us that it was related yes so here dude can you show me is that cool let's go all right man here's the other two okay Elvis cars right Elvis cars this is the car that he bought from Linda Thompson when he was dating her okay he hauled honey Linda Thompson Hall honey Miss Tennessee yes correct and she actually had the house on Old Hickory right correct just around the corner yep but the story is that when this car came in they jumped into it made a road trip to Rome Georgia to have the moonroof put in Wow okay something I didn't know this is actually the car that was in the line up on some of the postcards yes I was just getting ready to say I know the postcards in fact I've got some pictures fans had taken of this car in front of the house besides the postcard yeah there's there's the old post yeah behind the Stutz and in front of the Mercedes 600 Pullman and then the the Lincoln stretch Yassine yep yeah those are famous shots but that's so that's the car right here right so Linda obviously was visiting or hanging out there at the Elvis that day and the cars in front apparently and yeah certainly have seen those on post column this is actually just a blow-up that we had done yeah there it is mm-hmm the license plate is still on the car no yes sir same place same plate Wow this is a copy of the paperwork you know this is what makes to me a difference from a car owned that a car gifted Elvis gave this to her they were dating right she was at Grayson so Elvis would have driven this car plenty in written essay this was in Linda Thompson's name okay so he put it right here name you put it right in her name guaranteed though Elvis drove this yes and rode in it many times well it's beautiful this is original paint original paint Wow colors Ontario original interior car has about 28,000 miles Oh still a time capsule yeah Wow still still have all the stickers oh nice is he stickers that like said the original plate is still on it from Linda Linda had it how long has you had it your family headed here since early eighties Wow you get out drive it at all yeah no we'll start it up every now and then yeah you know what's beautiful it I mean it's to me this is the right color oh they're beautiful cause the body lines I mean they're they're just classy Wow you had the pinstripe and painted pinstripe yeah which I've noticed - some of them have the some of the bright work down that doors maybe the ding-ding stop by and some don't but this one looks like it's fully dressed right with the velour interior Wow really beautiful and great history so tell me about the Cadillac here 76 yep Seville dad always told me that it was bought for a policeman that handled his security at his concerts in Denver okay it was bought at Jack Kent Cadillac I saw that on the back yeah would it have been Kennedy yeah Pietro fest oh that's not sure I'm not really sure I'm friends with Ron Pietro Festo and I'm working with him down some of the things Elvis gave me okay Sal and Kennedy Ron Pietro FSO his brother they were all cops member and Elvis was close with them 73 74 75 six during that period Elvis would vacation out there he not only played in Denver okay wise but he vacations snowmobiled out there so this is one of those stable of cars he get away to the Denver cop what you're telling me right okay Richard Davis was telling dad also that and it was about the time that he gave this car away of course policemen aren't supposed to accept gifts yes but anyway there was a DJ on the radio talking about Elvis giving away a car and they ended up Elvis called the radio station and told him to go out to Jack Kent and pick him one out because of what he had said about him about being nice right you know I don't know but but Richard Davis was telling dad about that okay well then you just completed a story for me this is one of three that Elvis picked out there's a tripple green I think an old green cadillac eldorado 76 and i knew there's two other Cadillacs elvis went to a cadillac dealership he solved the emerald green one and i'm saying emerald not sure if that's a correct right or whatever but but a emerald green Eldorado he saw that car had them call the dealer and said open up the dealers and the dealer came down Elvis bought three cars that night okay the Eldorado off the showroom floor the one that was producing for the radio guy and then this one is the third one okay that is it and that could be I'm not really sure I think you and I are connecting the dots here I think that's because I've wondered what the third car was in fact some Elvis aficionados like myself have asked and I was like I'm gonna find out because I know where the other two are at ok I've located him and I know who owns him I think I just found the third the third you've got it good bake Wow and putting the puzzle together here Elvis was so close with those cops he even went and attended a funeral one of the cops had passed away and Elvis wanted to be incognito he borrowed a policeman's outfit the Hat and the full dress oh hey and went as a policeman and there's pictures of Elvis at the funeral dressed as a policeman and they all went out afterwards to a restaurant and and he wanted to be incognito but he's in the restaurant and he started to get a little bit bummed that the people weren't recognizing him so he got up from the the dinner table where they're all and started walking around and introducing himself but not say but before he said who he was he'd go up to the table and say hey y'all having a good meal here tonight and people like yeah yeah you kind of look like Elvis and he's like well I actually am so he told the people in the restaurant the next thing you know there's like you know crowd round the table want to talk to him they realize it's Elvis he's in a police uniform so that was during that era the Albee yeah so that's how close he was with the out of those police officers but I recognize that name as being that one of those inner inner circle people in Denver so uh okay Wow I got to tell you thanks so much today for showing me more Elvis cars and it's so cool that we've connected the dots on the history you knew this car and what I brought to the table I think we pieced together that this was in fact the third car that Elvis bought in Denver that day and seventy-six and Gary well should be and so good to know ya solved a little bit of a mystery so thanks so much really appreciate it and as we were leaving he tells me about one more Elvis car it was one that Elvis bought for Billy Smith discussing his cousin right yeah he bought and you might know this my understanding he bought his and hers for a belly and Billy's wife they both in this color they're slightly different the reason I'm saying this if I'm not mistaken there's pictures of Elvis driving the mate to this car okay the gates up through the gates of Graceland uh-huh and I've asked around that car was sold to a friend of a friend she passed away an Elvis Tribute artists and person either bought it I believe and it's been since restored okay so the mate to that car has been restored so this one was bought for Billie and then the other one a gooda bought for his all Irish why it's got moonroof had the vinyl top vinyl top in a lot about - yeah the extra-bright work as I call right it's just it was in stored outside when we bought it oh no kid yeah so it I mean like I said it it needs restored but it but it is a piece of history oh yeah no absolutely oh yeah yep kind of a bargain D leather yeah yeah and I can see where really though I mean it's it's solid it's not a car is solid yes it is it's it's a lot of cosmetic and yeah an original motor long original motor Wow running gear yes sir so this is kind of the documentation you put the quarter it's some that it was there when I bought the car okay yeah previous I've never this photo that's this car in front of Graceland it's supposed to be so yeah I'm pretty sure from my understanding there's two of these in this color unless there's some additional ones in this color and seventy five or six I'm aware of two and this looks like this is this car and that photo to me it appears to be and Wow I've never seen that photo yeah for saying they're not necessarily the money's right right okay Wow well man I gotta tell you thank you so much seriously yeah I really appreciate you helping off your

Channel: Rockology

Views: 348,672

Rating: 4.7048168 out of 5

Keywords: Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, abandoned, car, barn-find, Midwest, music, history, discovery

Id: FIc6sdksy6w

Length: 28min 5sec (1685 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 21 2019