This 12-Meter-Long Pink Guitar, Built From A 1970 Cadillac Eldorado, Was Driven By Elvis Presley

The editorial team at CarBuzz is no stranger to bespoke – often lunatic – custom builds, like a Corvette-Viper mash-up, this Honda Civic masquerading as a Mercedes coupe, and… whatever this monstrosity is. But now there’s something much, much more attention-grabbing to bring to your feed, and also much longer than any Escalade.

This ‘Guitar Car’ recently went up for sale on eBay, and is not only one of the craziest four-wheeled creations we’ve ever seen, but it’s also got a surprisingly rich heritage, as it was commissioned personally by The King of Rock and Roll himself, Elvis Presley. Bids will be accepted until the sale is closed on Saturday, 3 May (at the time of writing, the provisional total stood at $10,800, with the unstated reserve not met). Incidentally, that’s also when the hammer drops on this, one of 43, road-legal Porsche 911 Turbo GT2 R as well.

It’s Actually A V8-Powered, 1970 Cadillac Eldorado Underneath

Driven by the king himself en route to one of his concerts in Las Vegas during the 1970s (actual details are a little thin), this guitar car started out life as a 1970 Cadillac Eldorado, and thus shares the same 8.2-liter V8 that produced a hearty 349 horsepower. But that’s pretty much it as far as similarities go.

To create this thing, Hollywood specialist Jay Ohrberg started by cutting the already 5.6-meter-long Eldorado in half just behind the A-pillar, and, following some much-needed bracing front and rear, re-connecting them with a tubular steel frame mini-chassis to create the guitar neck. In a neat touch, the center-mounted driver’s seat was positioned where a guitar’s sound hole is bored, meaning electrical, braking, and drivetrain linkages – including for the three-speed automatic – all had to be extended.

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The guitar-shaped, rose-painted bodywork itself, including those enormous rear fins, was crafted from glass fiber, and while we’ve no idea how much this additional mass will have affected the Eldorado’s original 4,630-pound curb weight, it’s unlikely to have helped the Eldorado’s languid 7.6-second 0-60 mph time.

From The Mind Of The Man That Gave Us Knight Rider… Sort Of

Altogether, Ohrberg spent two years creating this 12.5-meter Guitar Caddy, which, somehow, was fully road legal (if you thought that ‘1 Elvis’ license plate was just an in-joke). By the way, if that name sounds familiar, that’s also because Ohrberg was also the mad scientist behind the Batmobile for Tim Burton’s late ‘80s/early ‘90s Batman films, the Panthermobile from The Pink Panther Show (nope, not rose…), KITT for the Knight Rider 2000 movie, and even Fred Flintstone’s daily driver.

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What became of the voiture guitare, however, between its Vegas debut and landing in France remains a mystery, save that it was used frequently as a showpiece at restaurants, showrooms, exhibitions, and museums – hence the quite badly-worn bodywork and the missing fretboard. It’s no longer a running model either, that 500-cubic-inch V8 having disappeared somewhere along the way.

Source: eBay