1976 Elvis Cadillac
edited by David Barth, 26 June 2009.
Courtesy The Forney Museum of Transportation at 4303 Brighton Blvd., Denver,
Colorado. Photos were taken in June 2009.
This account has not been verified, but it is included here as an interesting story illustrating Elvis Presley's
generousity.
In 1976, Don Kinney and a female news anchor at a local Denver, Colorado, television station were reporting on Elvis
Presley's [Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 - August 16, 1977)] vacation in Vail, Colorado.
The female anchor jokingly said that Elvis should give her a Cadillac in reference to Elvis' habit of giving a
Cadillac to his friends or to people who had helped him in some way.
Don chided her for her remarks and said that Elvis should not be talked about in that way. As the story goes,
Elvis' people happened to hear the exchange that evening on television, and were thankful that the male anchor had stood
up for him.
Elvis called Don at the TV station to tell him he was going to give him a Cadillac in appreciation for his
support. Don thought the call was bogus, and hung up on Elvis, not realizing it really was him.
Finally, Don's manager called him and told him that Elvis wanted to give him a Cadillac. He was to go to a
Cadillac dealer and pick out the Cadillac that he wanted, and Elvis would pick up the tab.
Instead of visiting a Cadillac dealer, Don simply phoned the dealer and chose the car shown below,
an ordinary, blue Cadillac, not the top-of-the line Fleetwood.
The following summer, Elvis once again visited Vail, and he invited Don to come to Vail so that
he could see the car he had bought for him. Don asked if he could bring his two children, and Elvis agreed,
saying that he would fly his daughter, Lisa-Marie, from his home in Memphis so that the children could play
together. A few months later, Elvis died.
Awhile later, Don happened to talk with Elvis' accountant who told him that the purchase of his Cadillac
was funded by an increase in the mortgage on Elvis' Memphis mansion.
