Only Aircraft Owned By 'The King' To Not Belong To The Elvis Estate

After sitting on a runway in Roswell, NM for more than 30 years, a significant piece of Elvis memorabilia is about to go under the auctioneer's gavel.

The King's private JetStar airplane will be auctioned on May 27 by GWS Auctions in California. The opening bid is $10,000, but the auction house estimates the value of the airplane, which is missing its engines, at between $2 and $3.5 million.

In the description posted on the Live Auctioneers website (www.liveauctioneers.com), the aircraft is said to be the "lost" jet that Elvis owned with his father, Vernon Presley. It has been privately owned for 35 years, and has been a "huge" tourist attraction at Roswell for many years. 

The auction house says that the plan has never been restored, and features the original exterior livery and interior as specified by Elvis. 

The only other two aircraft to be owned by Elvis are the property of the Elvis Presley Museum. The New Mexico Sun Herald reports that, according to Celebrity Insider, many Elvis fans hope that Priscilla Presley will purchase the aircraft and either have it placed in a museum or moved to Graceland in Memphis, TN.

The airplane would be rare even if it had not been owned by Elvis. The auction site says it is one of only 204 to be manufactured in a joint Lockheed/Jetstar program between 1957 and 1978. 

The current bid on the airplane as of this writing is $151,000.

(Image courtesy GWS Auctions)

FMI: new.liveauctioneers.com/item/52960731_elvis-presleys-private-lockheed-jetstar-jet