Florida shop known for famous cars rebuilding Elvis' last Lincoln
PALMETTO, Fla. - Gene Kennedy was 9 years old when the 1977 Lincoln Mark V was built, but the one he's working on now isn't just any old car.
"What makes it really rare is this is the last known purchased vehicle that Elvis ever made," Kennedy said.
He owns Bandit Movie Cars in Manatee County. His company is most famous for the "Smokey and the Bandit" Trans Am once owned by Burt Reynolds.
But their new build might draw a lot of attention. They're rebuilding one of The King's signature white-on-white luxury cars, just in time for the new biopic about Elvis Presley to hit theaters.
The movie is called "Elvis" and stars Austin Butler and Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker, Presley's long-time manager.
The actors play the roles, but the car was actually there in Las Vegas – with The King driving – during the final year of his life.
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Kennedy has a photo with Elvis, two of his staff members, and his girlfriend at the time, Ginger Alden. She wanted the car to be white-on-white.
"They wanted a certain car and it was very tough to get, especially in that color combination, so they made the trip to L.A. to buy the car, and then they drove it back to Las Vegas," says Kennedy.
He says a $100,000 frame-off restoration of the car is underway.
"The car has been extensively gone over, every nut, every bolt, everything has been replaced on the vehicle. In fact, we’re getting ready to put the seats in today," Kennedy said.
They found the exact leather to recover the seats that were cracked. Everything else is the same as when Elvis last drove it, right down to the AM-FM-8 Track tape player in the dash.
"A couple of things we didn't want to do is violate anything in the car that Elvis may have touched, so it has the original steering wheel, original headliner, and original parts inside that he touched," says Kennedy.
The new movie introduces Elvis to a new generation. No doubt fans will like to see the Lincoln, fit for The King.
The car belongs to a collector. Kennedy estimates its value at $250,000.