Buy Elvis Presley’s 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280 SEL And Love It Tender

Imagine the late, great Elvis Presley driving, and the picture in your mind would likely be of a big old Cadillac or Lincoln. Maybe a Rolls-Royce, a BMW 507, or even a De Tomaso Pantera (because he had those too). But the King also had a penchant for Mercs, like this one that’s coming up for auction.

It’s a 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280 SEL that once belonged to the legendary showman. With only 8,250 of this type made, out of some 400,000 W108s, it was one of the rarer versions of the model and was powered by a 2.8-liter straight six kicking out 180 horsepower (134 kW) and 193 lb-ft (262 Nm) of torque.

Though the W108 was the precursor of today’s S-Class, it wasn’t the largest saloon that Mercedes made at the time. That honor belonged to the 600, popularly known as the Grosser (or Grand) Mercedes. The spiritual predecessor of the later Maybach models, the 600 was favored by celebrities and heads of state the world over. Elvis had one of those, too, and had both his big Benzes painted to match each other in the same shade of Alpha Crystal Blue Metallic.

He kept this 280 SEL from 1971 until he died in 1977 – 41 years and three days ago today. It’s since been on museum display and has formed part of the John Staluppi Jr. Collection, and is now heading to auction at Barrett-Jackson’s Las Vegas sale next month. If you’re an Elvis fan – or a Mercedes enthusiast – it could be now or never to put this big Benz with its unsurpassed celebrity provenance in your collection.