LIVE AUCTIONEERS
The 1962 red Lockheed JetStar was owned by Elvis and his father, Vernon Presley.
A private jet once owned by Elvis Presley has been auctioned after sitting on a runway in New Mexico for 30 years.
The plane sold for US$430,000 ($609,000) on Saturday at an Agoura Hills, California, US, event featuring celebrity memorabilia, GWS Auctions Inc said.
The buyer was not disclosed in the sold note posted on the firm’s website. GWS Auctions managing member and lead auctioneer Brigitte Kruse did not immediately return a call for additional information.
The auction house says Elvis designed the interior that has gold-tone woodwork, red velvet seats and red shag carpet. But the red 1962 Lockheed Jetstar has no engine and needs a restoration of its cockpit.
LIVE AUCTIONEERS
The auction house says Elvis designed the plush interior.
READ MORE:
* Elvis’ private jet being auctioned after 30 years on runway in New Mexico
* Elvis Presley’s personal jets could fetch more than $13 million
* Two Elvis jets to grace Presley’s Memphis home permanently
* Elvis jets to leave Memphis
The 1962 red Lockheed JetStar was owned by Elvis and his father, Vernon Presley, Liveauctioneers.com says.
It has been privately owned for 35 years and sitting on a tarmac in Roswell, New Mexico. Photos of the plane show the exterior in need of restoration and seats of the cockpit torn.
LIVE AUCTIONEERS
The plane has no engine and needs a restoration of its cockpit.
A previous owner of the private jet disputed the auction house’s claim the king of rock’n’ roll designed its red velvet interior.
Roy McKay told KOB-TV in Albuquerque on Tuesday he designed the interior himself. McKay said that when he purchased the red 1962 Lockheed Jetstar, it had a two-toned gray interior and “kind of looked like a casket”.
But then-GWS spokesman Carl Carter said the auction house is confident Elvis designed the interior, which photos show has red velvet seats and red shag carpet.
Federal Aviation Administration records show no interior changes were ever made to the jet, Carter said.
Presley was born in Tupelo on January 8, 1935, and moved to Memphis with his parents at age 13. He became a leading figure in the fledgling rockabilly scene by covering songs originally performed by African-American artists like Big Mama Thornton (“Hound Dog”) and Arthur Crudup (“That’s All Right”).
His provocative dancing and hit records turned him into one of the 20th century’s most recognisable icons. Historians say his music also helped usher in the fall of racial segregation.
Elvis was 42 when he died on August 16, 1977, in Memphis.
– AP
RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment