Motor City Classics: Elvis Presley
Elvis' Pink Cadillac Story
Elvis' Pink Cadillac is probably one of the most iconic, style setting, sung about in popular culture and then copied real cars in North America, and the wider world where Elvis Presley's music was popular. The 1955 manufactured Series 60 car is now preserved in the Graceland museum, in Memphis, Tennessee. While no manufacturer of the time offered pink as a standard color, after the public attention to Elvis' car many individual car owners in the 1950s began to paint their cars various shades of pink. Although the original car was a four door sedan, the more replicated version in popular culture is a pink 1959 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible, which have been sold as miniature replicas by many companies including Franklin Mint, and featured in songs and videos about the pink Cadillac. Pink Cadillacs have also been the automobiles of recognition for their top sales people by Mary Kay Cosmetics. Elvis' Pink Cadillac was the inspiration for Robert Dunn's musical novel Pink Cadillac (2002). In the novel Elvis makes a cameo appearance, giving the heroine, Daisy Holliday, one of his pink Cadillacs as a gift after she helps him get it running.
Elvis' Pink Cadillac was featured in the CBS miniseries Elvis, where it shows him first buying the car for his mother. History Pink Cadillacs in popular culture In early 1955, Elvis bought his first Cadillac, a 1954 model, which had been re-sprayed pink. The car provided transport for Elvis and the Blue Moon Boys, but after the failure of a brake lining, was destroyed in a roadside fire between Hope and Texarkana, Arkansas, on June 5, 1955. On July 5, 1955, Elvis purchased a new Cadillac Fleetwood Series 60 in blue with a black roof. Having mentioned a Pink Cadillac in the song Baby, Let's Play House, the first song recorded by Elvis to appear on a national chart which made #5 on the Billboard Country Singles chart in July 1955; Elvis had the car repainted by Art, a neighbour on Lamar Street. Art designed a customised pink colour for Elvis which he named "Elvis Rose," but the
car kept its black roof. Once the car was finished Elvis gave it to his mother Gladys as a gift. Mrs. Gladys Presley never had a driver's license, and Elvis drove the car with the members of his band for most of 1955–1956. On September 2, 1955, Scotty Moore drove the car into a vehicle which was passing a pick-up truck in Texarkana, Texas, causing $1000 of damage. Having signed his contract with RCA in November 1955, in March 1956 Elvis had the upholstery replaced, the
body retouched and roof painted white. On his return from military service in Germany in
1960, Presley lent the car to his US Army buddy Joe Esposito,having bought himself a white with pink roofed 1961 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. The original pink Cadillac remains on permanent display at Graceland, formerly under a carport for many years, and now resident in the auto museum.
Pink Cadillacs in popular culture
While no manufacturer of the time offered pink as a standard color, after the public attention to Elvis' car
many individual car owners in the 1950s began to paint their cars various shades of pink.
Although the original car was a four door sedan, the more
replicated version in popular culture is a pink 1959 Cadillac
Series 62 Convertible, which have been sold as miniature
replicas by many companies including Franklin Mint, and
featured in songs and videos about the pink Cadillac.
Pink Cadillacs have also been the automobiles of recognition
for their top sales people by Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Elvis' Pink Cadillac was the inspiration for Robert Dunn's
musical novel Pink Cadillac (2002). In the novel Elvis makes
a cameo appearance, giving the heroine, Daisy Holliday, one
of his pink Cadillacs as a gift after she
helps him get it running.
Elvis' Pink Cadillac was featured in the CBS miniseries Elvis, where it shows him first buying the car for his
mother.
Elvis' Pink Cadillac is probably one of the most iconic, style setting, sung about in popular culture and then copied real cars in North America, and the wider world where Elvis Presley's music was popular. The 1955 manufactured Series 60 car is now preserved in the Graceland museum, in Memphis, Tennessee. While no manufacturer of the time offered pink as a standard color, after the public attention to Elvis' car many individual car owners in the 1950s began to paint their cars various shades of pink. Although the original car was a four door sedan, the more replicated version in popular culture is a pink 1959 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible, which have been sold as miniature replicas by many companies including Franklin Mint, and featured in songs and videos about the pink Cadillac. Pink Cadillacs have also been the automobiles of recognition for their top sales people by Mary Kay Cosmetics. Elvis' Pink Cadillac was the inspiration for Robert Dunn's musical novel Pink Cadillac (2002). In the novel Elvis makes a cameo appearance, giving the heroine, Daisy Holliday, one of his pink Cadillacs as a gift after she helps him get it running.
Elvis' Pink Cadillac was featured in the CBS miniseries Elvis, where it shows him first buying the car for his mother. History Pink Cadillacs in popular culture In early 1955, Elvis bought his first Cadillac, a 1954 model, which had been re-sprayed pink. The car provided transport for Elvis and the Blue Moon Boys, but after the failure of a brake lining, was destroyed in a roadside fire between Hope and Texarkana, Arkansas, on June 5, 1955. On July 5, 1955, Elvis purchased a new Cadillac Fleetwood Series 60 in blue with a black roof. Having mentioned a Pink Cadillac in the song Baby, Let's Play House, the first song recorded by Elvis to appear on a national chart which made #5 on the Billboard Country Singles chart in July 1955; Elvis had the car repainted by Art, a neighbour on Lamar Street. Art designed a customised pink colour for Elvis which he named "Elvis Rose," but the
car kept its black roof. Once the car was finished Elvis gave it to his mother Gladys as a gift. Mrs. Gladys Presley never had a driver's license, and Elvis drove the car with the members of his band for most of 1955–1956. On September 2, 1955, Scotty Moore drove the car into a vehicle which was passing a pick-up truck in Texarkana, Texas, causing $1000 of damage. Having signed his contract with RCA in November 1955, in March 1956 Elvis had the upholstery replaced, the
body retouched and roof painted white. On his return from military service in Germany in
1960, Presley lent the car to his US Army buddy Joe Esposito,having bought himself a white with pink roofed 1961 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. The original pink Cadillac remains on permanent display at Graceland, formerly under a carport for many years, and now resident in the auto museum.
Pink Cadillacs in popular culture
While no manufacturer of the time offered pink as a standard color, after the public attention to Elvis' car
many individual car owners in the 1950s began to paint their cars various shades of pink.
Although the original car was a four door sedan, the more
replicated version in popular culture is a pink 1959 Cadillac
Series 62 Convertible, which have been sold as miniature
replicas by many companies including Franklin Mint, and
featured in songs and videos about the pink Cadillac.
Pink Cadillacs have also been the automobiles of recognition
for their top sales people by Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Elvis' Pink Cadillac was the inspiration for Robert Dunn's
musical novel Pink Cadillac (2002). In the novel Elvis makes
a cameo appearance, giving the heroine, Daisy Holliday, one
of his pink Cadillacs as a gift after she
helps him get it running.
Elvis' Pink Cadillac was featured in the CBS miniseries Elvis, where it shows him first buying the car for his
mother.
