The "King's" Ill-fated Pantera

I've talked before about some of the musclecars owned by celebrities-but here's one I bet you didn't know about. Elvis Presley had a 1971 Pantera! He bought it in 1974 for $2500, which was dirt-cheap even then-new Panteras were selling for 10-12 grand at the time. Typical hillbilly regardless of how much money he had. He thought he was getting a screamin' deal. The guy that sold it to him told him it had electrical problems. The guy that maintained the King's other vehicles said he could fix it. Well apparantly he couldn't. Memphis natives talk about seeing Elvis tooling around in the Pantera with then girlfriend Linda Thompson-who wanted the car in the first place. They also talk about seeing Elvis and Linda stranded several times and a furious Elvis trying to get a tow-truck. Apparently it would just shut off out of the blue, and after sitting for a while, start right up again. The car still has a bullet hole in the steering wheel where Elvis shot it in frustration one day. ( Presley had a reputation for shooting television sets or other devices that didn't work .) Apparently he was trying to sell it to someone who wanted to test-drive it, and when it wouldn't start, he shot it. According to Sonny West-hilarilously-it started after being shot and the guy drove it. Tired of it not running, Elvis told Sonny to get rid of it. It was sold to a Memphis car dealer who re-sold it for a tidy profit since he could prove Elvis once owned it. The car now resides in the Petersen Auto Museum in Los Angeles. The reason it's not in Graceland with Elvis's Stutz's and Cadillacs and Harleys is-according to a source at the museum-It was offered by a previous owner but turned down by the two main women in Elvis' life. Priscilla didn't want it there because he'd bought it for Linda Thompson, who was Elvis main love after their divorce.  Lisa Marie didn't want it there because she remembered it. She spoke about it in an interview. "I don't know if my mom didn't like it or not." "I don't think she ever saw it or rode in it."  "My daddy hated that car because it would never run." "Why should I have a car that he hated on display at Graceland?"  Mastermind