Elvis' Lockheed JetStar will go up for auction in the new year. Photo / KISSIMMEE 2023 auction, File
A private jet once belonging to Elvis Presley is being sold at auction early next year.
Some you win, some you lose - but fans of the King will be watching this lot closely.
The 1962 Lockheed JetStar was bought by the rock star in 1976 - the year before his death in Graceland.
Despite having been hidden in an aircraft “boneyard” in Roswell, she still has her bright paint and a custom interior with red velvet and gold-finish hardware. This is pure late-era Vegas Elvis.
The lot also comes with some of Presley’s previous possessions, including a Kenmore microwave, cassette deck and a travel television set.
The piece of rock and roll memorabilia is being sold as is. The engines and much of the cockpit instruments are removed, and there are no replacement parts with the lot.
It’ll be more a question of “Labour of Love” than “Love me Tender” for budding aviation enthusiasts.
Although the auction house describes it as - “an incredible restoration opportunity to create an Elvis exhibit for the world to enjoy.”
Elvis collected a number of private jets - including a Convair 880 “Lisa Marie” and a second Lockheed JetStar dubbed “Hound Dog II” - which are both now part of the Elvis Presley Museum in Memphis.
The plane for sale is the only one still in private ownership. After Elvis’ death it was sold to a private company and put into long-storage at a facility in Roswell, New Mexico.
It will go under the hammer at the Kissimmee 2023 auction, on 4 - 15 January.
This isn’t the first time it has been sold at auction. in 2017 it flopped rather than flew, when bids closed at $430,000 - well below the expected $2 million predicted by liveauctioneers.com.
And so it remained in storage.
Brigitte Kruse, owner of GWS Auctions who last sold the jet, said it was a one of a kind and has plenty of value as an attraction.
“It has attracted a lot of tourists in Roswell, and it still has the original woodwork, inlay, red velvet seats and red shag carpet,” he told the Daily Mail at the time.
“It has the potential to be fully restored and made the centrepiece of a major exhibit.”
The plane has plenty of style but is going nowhere fast. Auctioneers said they’d love to see it returned to working condition but it would make just as good an exhibition piece.
“It’s in impressive condition for being in the desert for 30 years, inside is impeccable, the engine has been taken out, but it’s a perfect exhibit piece.
“Whether that’s for a museum, casino or someone looking for a focal point it will be an amazing piece.”
The Lockheed JetStar is the main attraction of the Mecum action next year mecum.com
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