Elvis With his 1957 Eldorado.... Question is it a Seville or Biarritz ?

[Bill Balkie 24172]

There has been a lot of pictures of Elvis with Cadillacs , but this is the first i have ever noticed with a 1957 . I know it's the Eldorado because of the spears on the fenders , not the hood .  the Question is Biarritz or Seville .  Anyway it is a great picture .

[Art Director]

Hi Bill,

That is a Seville as what is shown in the picture is a hardtop. The Biarritz is a convertible. Tim

[Coupedeville]

Hello Bill,

Can't help with id-ing the car, but it's a great picture of the man himself. Not seen this one before.
Whats that halfway down the drivers side wing (fender)??

Joe Hunt

[Otto Skorzeny]

Whats that halfway down the drivers side wing (fender)??

That's a rear-view mirror.

[veesixteen]

It's definitely the "Seville" hardtop (you can see the faux inner chrome roof bows through the windshield). The car appears to have also a custom LH rear-view mirror with a large "V" emblem on the back; I have never seen that model before; I expect it was a custom add-on. BTW, great pic!  Never seen it before among the many photos of Elvis' (many) Cadillacs.  Where did you get it?

[Otto Skorzeny]

Who is that on his lapel pin? It looks like Jerry Lee Lewis. Can you zoom in?

[Bill Balkie 24172]

 They had about 20 pictures on the msn web page . I could not believe it when i saw the 1957 . and yes it does look like Jerry lee on the lapel . 

Who is that on his lapel pin? It looks like Jerry Lee Lewis. Can you zoom in?

Who is that on his lapel pin? It looks like Jerry Lee Lewis. Can you zoom in?

[Bill Balkie 24172]

I wonder if it had a matching rear view mirror on the passenger fender ? It is a very unusual mirror

[Otto Skorzeny]

You see all kinds of after market mirrors like that at flea markets and swap meets. There were all kinds of bizarre styles back then.

[Bill Balkie 24172]

Elvis was a Cadillac Man .. Check out the convertable

[Bill Balkie 24172]

This is a great shot of maybe a 55

[Bill Balkie 24172]

check it out .. Elvis with his girlfriend Barbara Hearn , and sitting around the house

[Bill Balkie 24172]

I got it off the msn homepage

It's definitely the "Seville" hardtop (you can see the faux inner chrome roof bows through the windshield). The car appears to have also a custom LH rear-view mirror with a large "V" emblem on the back; I have never seen that model before; I expect it was a custom add-on. BTW, great pic!  Never seen it before among the many photos of Elvis' (many) Cadillacs.  Where did you get it?

[Otto Skorzeny]

In his front yard it looks like a '55 Sixty Special, a '54 Convertible, and a  '54 or '55 Series 75. Not a bad lineup.

[veesixteen]

That's the King, hanging with a meter man in Memphis in 1956. The car is a 1956 Eldorado Biarritz.  It's the one that he quickly had repainted the "color of crushed grapes".

For more Presley Cadillacs, check out the Cadillac Database:  http://cadillacdb.planeteldorado.com/Dbas_txt/Starprsl.htm

[veesixteen]

Elvis' first Cadillac was a pink & white 1954 Series 60 Special; it was totally destroyed by fire, in June 1955, on the road from Hope, Arkansas, where he had been performing, to Texarkana where Elvis was going to spend the night; a brake lining had caught fire! Elvis had the car fitted with a roof rack to carry the band's instruments.

The "front yard" photo includes (in the background) the 55-60S he bought for his Mom, Gladys, in 1956; it was gray and he had it repainted pink with a white roof. The "75" is believed to be the '54 model he bought to haul his band and their instruments to his early gigs; originally blue, he had it painted yellow. In the spring of 1957, Elvis moved model to Graceland, and this vehicle was used to stock the grounds. One time it was used to haul fowl - chickens, ducks, guineas, peacocks and a turkey! The convertible iin the foreground is a "Series 62"; I believe it was bright yellow and fitted with a continental kit.

[Ralph Messina CLC 4937]

This is off the subject of the  ’57 Eldorado. Does anyone know what is the interior is on the pink & white ’55 Fleetwood that Elvis had repainted for his mom? Most photos show just the top of the seats which appear to be white, which was not a standard offering.

Ralph

[okccadman]

I saw the car after it was restored and it appears to have a full white vinyl interior with little or no pattern.  Almost looks like seat covers.

[PHIL WHYTE CLC 14192]

Most of those photos were taken at his house in Audabon Drive in Memphis - the house he had before Graceland. Last thing I heard Uri Geller had bought it ! I did post comments about the 56 Biarritz before - basically when I saw it in the Elvis car museum at Gracelands it had been customised. Purple metal flake paint, side pipes etc. it was horrible. Elvis had it repainted the colour of crushed grapes but didn't ruin it the way the present owner has [it was on loan to the museum]. Doing that to a 56 Biarritz is bad enough, but to do it to Elvis's one should be a capital offence !!
Phil
PS. That doesn't look like Jerry Lee to me, it looks like a woman, will we ever know ?!!!

[Otto Skorzeny]

The resolution isn't high enough to blow it up from the picture above. What woman would it be? His mother?