Cars belonging Elvis and Grace Kelly on display at New York International Auto Show
- Historic celebrity cars were displayed at the New York International Auto Show
- Cars belonging to Elvis, Grace Kelly, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were there
- Some of the vehicles are incredibly rare, including Elvis’s Stutz Blackhawk
Published on Aug 19, 2024 at 1:48 PM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Aug 19, 2024 at 3:18 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
An incredible collection showing a host of historic celebrity cars went on display at the New York International Auto Show.
The annual event has been running for more than a hundred years and sees visitors flock to ‘experience everything that the automobile industry has to offer and to get a glimpse into the future’.
This year’s show – which took place back in April – included a display of vehicles belonging to Elvis Presley, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Princess Grace Kelly.
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The collection of cars includes a Stutz Blackhawk that belonged to Elvis
In 2024, we’re well aware that many of our favorite celebrities boast impressive car collections -including Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, who has a collection reportedly worth $10 million; and Rick Ross, who reckons his collection is the best out there.
It seems that stars loving cars is nothing new.
In fact, it seems that Elvis was at the front of the queue to get his hands on a 1971 Stutz Blackhawk and was the proud owner of the first one ever produced.
“When he bought the Stutz, this was essentially at the beginning, it was ordered for Frank Sinatra but they sold it to Elvis so Frank Sinatra vowed he would never buy one because in the pecking order, nobody could compare with Elvis, even to this day, nobody ever has,” collection owner Bob Kerekes told ABC7.
The Stutz Blackhawk is one of only 14 examples known to still exist.
A car formerly owned by Princess Grace Kelly was a ‘complete wreck’
A Mercedes Cabriolet, that once belonged to actress-turned-princess Grace Kelly, is also in the New York International Auto Show collection.
According to Kerekes, her husband Prince Rainier of Monaco bought it for her but the car ended up being discovered ‘in a garage somewhere’ in Monaco and was a ‘complete wreck’.
Thankfully, whoever it was that discovered the car realized its historical significance and had it completely overhauled.
There’s also a Packard Super Eight that was specially built for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
“This is all custom done for Kareem, everything in it, it’s got power roof and power windows the seats and everything were done all for him because look how big he is,” Kerekes added.
Fair point.
Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Across her career she's covered a wide variety of topics, including celebrity, cryptocurrency, politics, true crime and just about everything in between.
