Post by Admin on Jul 28, 2009 10:32:30 GMT -5
July 22, 2009
CHARLOTTE HARBOR -- Elvis Presley bought his first Cadillac in 1955 after his first record hit No. 1. He also took his last ride in a Cadillac hearse at his funeral in 1977.
In between, the iconic singer bought, drove and gave away some 200 Cadillacs.
And one of them just may have been discovered at a Charlotte Harbor auto restoration shop.
Paul Kull, an upholstery technician for Nick's Custom Trim at 23058 Harborview Road, said he was pulling the seats out of a 1958 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special four-door sedan and noticed something that spiked his curiosity.
It was a silver ashtray mounted in the middle of the back of the front seat.
Like other vintage 1950s Cadillacs, which didn't skimp on such luxuries, the ashtray had a gold-plated Cadillac emblem and, beneath that, a gold-plated plaque.
Unlike other vintage Cadillacs, however, this gold-plated plaque was engraved with the name "Elvis Presley."
"I thought, 'Why would somebody put that there if it was really not Elvis' car?'" Kull said.
His question quickly drifted through the restoration shop all the way to the top. Just about everyone who looked at the ashtray became convinced the gold-plated plaque was installed by the factory when the car was manufactured in 1958.
That's because the backside of the ashtray still has what appears to be original felt sound-proofing material glued to it. The felt still covers the places where the gold plates were mounted, suggesting that the felt was installed after the gold plates, said Nick Castelli, owner of Nick's.
"It's exciting; it's fun," Castelli said of his reaction to the find. "It's better than bad news."
The thought that the '58 Caddy in bay No. 1 may have been driven by America's first rock-and-roll idol set off a race among Nick's employees to prove its authenticity.
Staffer Charlie Allison began researching the rock legend on the Internet, while John Castelli, Nick's son, began tracing the ownership of the vehicle.
Its current owner, an area businessman who reportedly bought the car in "needs-restoration" condition about a year ago, is not interested in publicity, according to John Castelli. Nick's staffers have declined to reveal his identity.
By backtracking, however, John Castelli has traced the ownership of the car as far back as 1993, when it was owned by Johnny Thompson of Philadelphia.
Castelli said he has learned the car had been insured for $50,000 when it was stolen in a 1993 heist. Investigators recovered the vehicle, he said.
Castelli said he's contacted insurance companies and a National Insurance Crime Bureau that investigates such high-dollar heists, seeking more information about the '58.
He's also contacted General Motors in Detroit. A staffer is reportedly working to locate manufacturer's archives to identify the dealership where the 1958 mystery car was delivered.
"It's done one person at a time," said John Castelli, of the researching. "It's time-consuming."
However, many folks have been willing to help track down the pedigree of the car.
"Everyone's trying to help because they're wondering: 'Could it be Elvis's car?'" Castelli said. "Even if it turns out it wasn't his, it's fun to trace back its history."
Calls also have been made to Graceland, the Elvis Presley museum in Memphis.
Marco Hartner, an auto restoration expert who specializes in 1960s Corvettes, said he can recognize when something was made by a factory. And he said he's convinced the local Cadillac's ashtray was manufactured by GM with Elvis' name engraved on it.
He cited not only the original felt on the back but also the bevel on the gold plate, which appeared to have been professionally made.
Now, Hartner is researching Presley's history with Cadillacs on various Web sites.
One site, elviscadillacs.tripod.com, listed dozens of Cadillacs known to have been owned by Presley. The list includes a black 1958 Fleetwood limousine, which would have looked similar but longer than the Fleetwood Special in Nick's shop.
That Web site states the fate of Presley's 1959 limousine is a "mystery."
Hartner, however, wonders if the black Fleetwood sedan in Nick's shop could have been inaccurately described as a limousine.
"It depends on how people interpret it," Hartner said. "A lot of people would have thought a four-door sedan was a limousine.
"Especially when Elvis had a couple hundred cars, the potential that something hasn't been discovered yet is pretty good, I think," he said.
Don Royston, president and co-founder of the Southwest Florida Chapter of the Veteran Motor Car Club of America, also is working to trace the origins of the car, but remains skeptical.
"I've seen this before," he said of false alarms.
If the car is an authentic Elvis Presley Cadillac, that would add considerably to its value.
"If it proves out, it would be known as a celebrity car, and there are some buyers that would want to have (it) for their collection," he said.
E-mail: gmartin@sun-herald.com
By GREG MARTIN
Staff Writer
www.sunnewspapers.net/articles/tsnews.aspx?ArticleID=441291&pubdate=7/22/2009
CHARLOTTE HARBOR -- Elvis Presley bought his first Cadillac in 1955 after his first record hit No. 1. He also took his last ride in a Cadillac hearse at his funeral in 1977.
In between, the iconic singer bought, drove and gave away some 200 Cadillacs.
And one of them just may have been discovered at a Charlotte Harbor auto restoration shop.
Paul Kull, an upholstery technician for Nick's Custom Trim at 23058 Harborview Road, said he was pulling the seats out of a 1958 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special four-door sedan and noticed something that spiked his curiosity.
It was a silver ashtray mounted in the middle of the back of the front seat.
Like other vintage 1950s Cadillacs, which didn't skimp on such luxuries, the ashtray had a gold-plated Cadillac emblem and, beneath that, a gold-plated plaque.
Unlike other vintage Cadillacs, however, this gold-plated plaque was engraved with the name "Elvis Presley."
"I thought, 'Why would somebody put that there if it was really not Elvis' car?'" Kull said.
His question quickly drifted through the restoration shop all the way to the top. Just about everyone who looked at the ashtray became convinced the gold-plated plaque was installed by the factory when the car was manufactured in 1958.
That's because the backside of the ashtray still has what appears to be original felt sound-proofing material glued to it. The felt still covers the places where the gold plates were mounted, suggesting that the felt was installed after the gold plates, said Nick Castelli, owner of Nick's.
"It's exciting; it's fun," Castelli said of his reaction to the find. "It's better than bad news."
The thought that the '58 Caddy in bay No. 1 may have been driven by America's first rock-and-roll idol set off a race among Nick's employees to prove its authenticity.
Staffer Charlie Allison began researching the rock legend on the Internet, while John Castelli, Nick's son, began tracing the ownership of the vehicle.
Its current owner, an area businessman who reportedly bought the car in "needs-restoration" condition about a year ago, is not interested in publicity, according to John Castelli. Nick's staffers have declined to reveal his identity.
By backtracking, however, John Castelli has traced the ownership of the car as far back as 1993, when it was owned by Johnny Thompson of Philadelphia.
Castelli said he has learned the car had been insured for $50,000 when it was stolen in a 1993 heist. Investigators recovered the vehicle, he said.
Castelli said he's contacted insurance companies and a National Insurance Crime Bureau that investigates such high-dollar heists, seeking more information about the '58.
He's also contacted General Motors in Detroit. A staffer is reportedly working to locate manufacturer's archives to identify the dealership where the 1958 mystery car was delivered.
"It's done one person at a time," said John Castelli, of the researching. "It's time-consuming."
However, many folks have been willing to help track down the pedigree of the car.
"Everyone's trying to help because they're wondering: 'Could it be Elvis's car?'" Castelli said. "Even if it turns out it wasn't his, it's fun to trace back its history."
Calls also have been made to Graceland, the Elvis Presley museum in Memphis.
Marco Hartner, an auto restoration expert who specializes in 1960s Corvettes, said he can recognize when something was made by a factory. And he said he's convinced the local Cadillac's ashtray was manufactured by GM with Elvis' name engraved on it.
He cited not only the original felt on the back but also the bevel on the gold plate, which appeared to have been professionally made.
Now, Hartner is researching Presley's history with Cadillacs on various Web sites.
One site, elviscadillacs.tripod.com, listed dozens of Cadillacs known to have been owned by Presley. The list includes a black 1958 Fleetwood limousine, which would have looked similar but longer than the Fleetwood Special in Nick's shop.
That Web site states the fate of Presley's 1959 limousine is a "mystery."
Hartner, however, wonders if the black Fleetwood sedan in Nick's shop could have been inaccurately described as a limousine.
"It depends on how people interpret it," Hartner said. "A lot of people would have thought a four-door sedan was a limousine.
"Especially when Elvis had a couple hundred cars, the potential that something hasn't been discovered yet is pretty good, I think," he said.
Don Royston, president and co-founder of the Southwest Florida Chapter of the Veteran Motor Car Club of America, also is working to trace the origins of the car, but remains skeptical.
"I've seen this before," he said of false alarms.
If the car is an authentic Elvis Presley Cadillac, that would add considerably to its value.
"If it proves out, it would be known as a celebrity car, and there are some buyers that would want to have (it) for their collection," he said.
E-mail: gmartin@sun-herald.com
By GREG MARTIN
Staff Writer
www.sunnewspapers.net/articles/tsnews.aspx?ArticleID=441291&pubdate=7/22/2009