Wise men and women say that you’ll want to rush in to take a ride in a custom RV that'll be created out of Elvis’s old jet, untouched for almost 40 years. It’s in the process of being spiffed up, as reported by the Robb Report, and will have a second life cruising up and down the Las Vegas strip.
The plane is a 1962 Lockheed 1329 JetStar private jet, which was sold at auction (on what would have been Elvis’s 88th birthday) in January for $234,000, after languishing in the Roswell, New Mexico desert for close to 40 years. Maybe the aircraft comes with a few resident aliens from Area 51?
The auction was held at the Mecum Kissimmee Collector Car auction in Florida with Priscilla Presley there to talk about her late husband’s love of aviation. Buyer Jimmy Webb, a YouTuber and aviation fan, bought the plane via telephone bid. He told the Robb Report that within five seconds of actually seeing it, he knew it was never going to fly again (it was trucked out to Florida from New Mexico, and will now have to make another cross-country trek to get to Vegas). The plane’s four engines and cockpit instrumentation had been already stripped out. Webb’s plan? To mount it on an RV chassis and let fans enjoy it in the city that loves excess.
The plane’s fabulous (yet in need of repair) red velvet seats, walls and carpeting with gold-plated ashtrays at each armrest hark to the days of Elvis’s touring across the country to play to ecstatic crowds. Also on board? A state-of-the-art black and white TV and even a microwave oven. We hope the jet's renovation will preserve the commode covered in red velvet: every seat needs to be comfortable, right? The exterior is a sleek vintage red and silver striped snub nose. Its wings and tail will be separately sold off as Elvis memorabilia, but Webb envisions a driver dressed as The King taking pleasure lovers down the strip while dining on peanut butter and banana sandwiches.
It makes sense for this jet to be in Vegas as that is the city (along with Memphis) that most people associate with Elvis. Watch for this wild ride—that can take you straight to a heartbreak hotel—to be available in about a year.