This is the 1970 Cadillac Eldorado that was modified into a “Guitar Car” for Elvis Presley by legendary custom car builder Jay Ohrberg, it was then driven by Elvis to one of his Las Vegas concerts to much fanfare.
Apparently, the process of building this car too Ohrberg two years. He cut the Eldorado in half and then extended the wheelbase with a “fretboard” center section. He also heavily modified the rear end to make it more guitar shaped, and added some jet-style fins.
Here we see Jay Ohrberg with the car shortly after it was built. As you can see, it had faux tuners and strings, as well as a fretboard. Image provided by the Hollywood Cars Museum by Jay Ohrberg.
The Cadillac 500 V8-Powered Eldorado
The car started life as an 8.2 liter V8-powered 1970 Cadillac Eldorado. This engine was known as the Cadillac 500 V8 because it had a displacement of 500 cubic inches, it made 400 bhp (SAE gross) and it produced a healthy 550 lb ft of torque – more than enough to move the car’s hefty curb weight of 4,696 lbs (2,130 kgs).
The only transmission option for the car was, perhaps predictably, an automatic. A 3-speed automatic in this case that was capable of handling the torque being sent back. Owners could also opt for either the 7.0 or 7.7 liter V8 engines, but there was no engine option smaller than 7.0 liters offered on this generation of Eldorados.
Custom Car Legend Jay Ohrberg
Jay Ohrberg is perhaps best-remembered today as the man who built the Panthermobile in 1969 for The Pink Panther Show. This was a widely flamboyant, bright pink custom car with an elongated body – it was one of the most memorable custom cars of the time.
Ohrberg also built KITT for the Knight Rider 2000 film, the Flintstones car, the aforementioned Panthermobile car, and many others, including Elvis Presley’s 1970 Cadillac Eldorado Guitar Car and a similarly conceived Piano Car that could be played while it was being driven.
The upper image here shows the car abandoned in France many years ago. The lower image shows the car from above shortly after it was built, around the time Elvis drove it to one of his Las Vegas concerts. Lower image provided by the Hollywood Cars Museum by Jay Ohrberg.
In 1986 Ohrberg made global headlines unveiling The American Dream, a 100 foot long stretched limousine that is officially recognized by Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s longest car. It has 26 wheels, a helipad, swimming pool (with diving board), a hot tub, and a king-sized waterbed.
Elvis Presley’s 1970 Cadillac Eldorado “Guitar Car”
Surprisingly, relatively little information about Elvis Presley’s Guitar Car exists, it seems to have been largely forgotten, having ended up abandoned in France many years ago – exactly how it ended up crossing the Atlantic and arriving in Europe remains a mystery.
As noted above, the car was built by Jay Ohrberg and his team. They cut a 1970 Cadillac Eldorado in half just behind the A-pillar and then created a frame section of welded square-section tubular steel to connect the front and back.
The rear of the car was re-bodied to look like the body of a guitar, and the bodywork, including those large rear fins, was largely completed in fiberglass. When it was new, it had faux tuners and strings, a fretboard, and the driver sat where the sound hole (or pickups) would be on a real guitar.
Elvis is known to have used the car, with much media attention, when arriving at one go his Las Vegas concerts. He was an avowed lover of Cadillacs, and even had a reputation for buying Cadillacs for people he met as gifts.
This is an image from a period magazine article about the car, as you can see from that front license plate, it was registered for normal road use. Image provided by the Hollywood Cars Museum by Jay Ohrberg.
The Ohrberg-built Guitar Car is now being offered for sale on eBay out of Orléans, France – it’s listed as a non-running vehicle. By the look of the pictures it’s clear it needs a full restoration, but it could make a fantastic project for the right person (or team).
If you’d like to read more about Elvis’ Guitar Car or place a bid on it you can visit the listing on eBay here. Below you’ll find additional images of the car as it is today, in the center you can see the exposed steel frame connecting the front and rear.
Images courtesy of Guillaum Herbi and separately as listed
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
