40 replies to this topic

[Alchemist]

I came across a photo of two slot cars and controller of Elvis Presley.

Please scroll down after the link opens (It's the 6th photo down):

http://www.google.co...ved=0CB0Q9QEwAQ

[ravajack]

Some better views of the items in HRC Hollywood's Elvis slot car racing collection, w/o the need for MS Silverlight:

The blurb:


The stuff:


Particularly cool: Elvis's Cox Lotus 30/40.


Just cool: Elvis's Cox Cheetah.


Elvis's controller: The joystick(!).


Elvis's private slot car track, long since rumoured to be a ”King”. But this really looks like something else...


Closeup of the track, and yet another (poorly painted) Cox Lotus. Perhaps this was his favourite model?

[Steve Deiters]

I like how the engraved plate refers to the controller as a "joystick" which I guess to the untrained eye it does look like one. I believe they were called "Slotmaster" controllers. They had large diameter, short stroke resisters and a transistor or diode or something that was on the side of the side of the extrusion whose function in the whole process was and still is unknown to me. The is the first one I've seen red with an anodized base. The ones I remember had black grips and plain aluminium bases. The ironic thing was that even with all the fins heat wasn't an issue with these things. Time frame was probably mid to late 60's-about the same time as Globe motors were on the scene (which I have seen in slotcars at Graceland). The "half-life" of these controllers was about 3-6 months and then they were gone and replaced by the latest/greatest something else.

[MSwiss]

Great photos.

So much for the rumors Elvis had a American blue King or red Imperial track.

[Tex]

Yup, that's an Englemann. If that photo isn't "reversed", Jim Honeycutt has one in San Antonio that is a mirror image.

[MSwiss]

On Elvis slot car posts, I always chimed in he had a red based on a good friend's insistence. I wonder if he was fooled by a bad or partial pic of the red walls.

FWIW, I wonder if he had more than one track AKA got tired of one layout and replaced it with another.

[TSR]

And who knows, according to some, he is still alive and playing poker with Hitler and the Sasquatch.

[MSwiss]

IIRC, either John Ford or Bob Scott has posted grainy Elvis track pics that looks different than the Englemann in the above photos.

[TSR]

Mike,

Those were taken at Graceland I believe and it was some kind of a plastic track with 1/32 scale cars if I recall.

[ravajack]

Here are some more examples from Elvis's slot car collection @ Graceland:

Elvis's plastic track (Revell?)


Elvis's Sportsman racers (International?)


Elvis's slot box (Hoffman?)

[TSR]

Wilson motors in Dynamic chassis... he was one of us...

[Bob Chaney]

According to James Warner @ AllExperts:

5. How big is the attic?
The attic covers the entire size of the main home. That's roughly 36' by 62'.

6. Is anything of Gladys' still up there?
I'm sure there are still alot of items up there. Elvis' slot car racing track is still up there...along with trunks of old letters and family photographs and various musical instruments. Everything on the ENTIRE premises has been catalogued and archived!

source: http://en.allexperts...eland-rooms.htm

As no one is allowed above the first floor at Graceland, the plastic track shown is apparently on display (I have seen it in a set of Flickr photos taken at Graceland), I wonder what track is referred to here. Could a commercial grade Elvis track be stored in the attic? And how do we find out?

[Mike Patterson]

Has anyone written to Graceland and asked? If everything is "catalogued and archived", they should be able to tell you.

[slotbaker]

Yep. I sent an email last year to Graceland@Elvis.Com (found buried on the Graceland website) and didn't get a response.

There are some phone numbers for locals to call;
Tour Reservations and General Information:
(901) 332-3322
800-238-2000, Toll-free in North America

Graceland/EPE Corporate Offices:
(901) 332-3322 or (901) 332-3329
800-238-2010, Toll-free in North America

I didn't feel like ringing.

[Alchemist]

ravajack,

Thank you very much for sharing those photos. Where did you find them please? I've been searching and have never come across the other photos you shared.

Thank you again!

Ernie

[Gary Bluestone]

I found the blurb from the Hard Rock Cafe, quite offensive. By saying that Elvis was a big goofy kid because his hobbies included slot car racing, exotic cars, bicycling, etc., the anonymous writer is insulting all of us who know the beauty and fullfilment these hobbies.

 

The word goof comes from the French word gaffe, a mistake, but the ananymous writer is mistaken, if they overlooked the joy of these and other hobbies that Elvis had. To say he was a kid, implies that those with his interests were immature. The writer from the Hard Rock Cafe has revealed that his head is hard like a rock; no new thoughts can penetrate his thick skull.

[Bob Chaney]

Following up on my own questions, I contacted the Archives division at Graceland and received an almost immediate reply .. just now:

Dear Robert Chaney,

Unfortunately, everything you read on the internet is not accurate. There were a few pieces of a small track and some of the old cars and parts stored in the attic at one time. We've had them on display several places on the tour over the years, so no they are no longer in the attic.

Elvis had been introduced to slot-car racing while in California making a movie. He and his friends then spent a great deal of time back in Memphis at Robert E. Lee Raceway on Highway 51 near his home in Whitehaven and so Priscilla bought him his own little home slot-car track from the folks at Robert E. Lee Raceway. However, Elvis soon outgrew that first small track that Priscilla bought him for Christmas 1965. (It looks much like the track pieces for a train set.)

By January 1966 he had ordered from them a "Highspeed Raceway Road America" for $4,990.00. Who made it and what it looked like or how it was configured, I don't know. I've been told in the past by other slot car enthusiasts that it would have been a King track whatever that is, but I don't know. He had a portion of the pool patio enclosed to house it. That area is now the "Trophy Room" at Graceland and includes the Hall of Gold and the other two exhibit rooms in that wing of the mansion so the area he had to house it in was very large. I don't have any books on vintage slot car tracks to see if there is one with this exact name?

When Elvis tired of the hobby, the large professional track was given to a youth group. What became of it is unknown. Elvis then used the area to house his trophies and awards.

Which Hard Rock Cafe is displaying this picture? I've never seen one of it before and would love to see it and know it's source.

Best Regards,
Archives Staff Researcher

.. I have replied with a link to this discussion. From the minimal track description given, sounds like the King owning a King was wishful thinking and that it was probably some other manufacture. I don't recall that Engleman used road course names in connection with his work. The Revell Engleman clone was called a "Grand Prix" and had straight-away crossovers so.. the clues pile up with no complete answer.

Here is some more..

Some receipts from Robert E. Lee Raceways were included in an ELVIS AUCTION held October 8-10, 1999 @ the MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Elvis: The Official Auction Catalog for Items from the 1960's lists Lot 150 - ELVIS PRESLEY SLOT CARS AND RECEIPTS, as selling for $2,750

Lot 150($2,750)(Picture) B150 - ELVIS PRESLEY SLOT CARS AND RECEIPTS Handwritten receipts for slot car materials. Two receipts from Brown Hobby Distributors in Memphis and three from Robert E. Lee Raceway in Memphis. Receipts...

source: http://www.biwa.ne.j...ews-auction.htm

There was a picture link; sadly it is dead.

Further correspondence with the Archives has confirmed that the room the Engleman style track is shown in, is the room it would have been housed in, at Graceland.

[Gary Bluestone]

Can anyone confirm that the room shown in the track photos, is in fact a room at Graceland. If so, then this is the track Elvis bought.

[tonyp]

Graceland (house) is actually pretty small. There are several buildings on the property that were used for things like an R/C car track and now used for Elvis stuff like costumes etc. The 220 track in the picture could easily been in there.

[ravajack]

Thank you very much for sharing those photos. Where did you find them please?

Just a simple picture search for elvis slot car @ google & ended up with these links (among a lot of others):

http://slotcarracing...83-3bf865bf5ff7

http://www.flickr.co.../cordan/page75/
(scroll down just a bit to find the pics)

BTW, I've also seen several other pics on the net stating to be Elvis's slot cars, but I can't seem find them any more.
But I think I've have some of them them downloaded & saved on an old hard drive somewhere.
When time permits I'll give it a go...

[Bob Chaney]

Can anyone confirm that the room shown in the track photos, is in fact a room at Graceland. If so , then this is the track Elvis bought.

It has been confirmed through correspondence with the Archives at Graceland. The room the Engleman style track is shown in, is the room it would have been housed in, at Graceland. The picture in question was taken in the converted pool patio at Graceland.

[Bob Chaney]

Graceland (house) is actually pretty small. There are several buildings on the property that were used for things like an RC car track and now used for Elvis stuff like costumes etc. The 220 track in the picture could easily been in there.

The archivist at Graceland says, "a portion of the pool patio enclosed to house it. That area is now the "Trophy Room" at Graceland and includes the Hall of Gold and the other two exhibit rooms in that wing of the mansion so the area he had to house it in was very large."

[Hworth08]

The track that was reported to cost $4,990 in 1966 would cost $32,630 in 2009 dollars. Were tracks that expensive back then?

[Alchemist]

Hi ravajack,

I did a search using "Elvis Presley's slot cars" & "Elvis Presley's slot car track" and did not find more than what I posted. But thanks again for sharing!

Ernie

[tonyp]

The trophy room at Graceland is a separate building from the main house. It is by the pool and It is set up with all kinds of displays etc. It is plenty big enough to have housed the track. When you walk throuh the taped tour info does say there was at one time an RC car track in the building.