The pinkest new vehicle at the Orlando Automotive Museum was definitely a fixer-upper. But now, a 41-foot-long, guitar-shaped 1970 Cadillac Eldorado with ties to Elvis Presley is ready to be admired by tourists visiting the Desert Lands attraction.
Having frets and a tuner and seating capacity of one person is certainly a novelty. But its current owner, South Florida developer and car collector Michael Dezer, wanted the vehicle to function just as well, project manager Greg Osborn said Thursday. When the car arrived in Orlando in September, it was damaged and needed work.
“It was old and brittle, it had big holes and it was starting to rust everywhere, so we had to replace the fiberglass,” Osborne said.
I repaired the fender. “The whole front of the car had to be rebuilt” because the engine seized up and one axle “wasn’t right,” he said. The effort extends to the fins at the rear of the taillights, which were previously just decorative.
The refurbishment process includes a trip to Colorado to source engine parts, and there’s a fresh surprise under the hood. The parts are painted gold.
“In my opinion, it had to be a gold glitter engine, so we put a gold metal flake engine in the car,” Osborne said.
That’s the Elvis element. This car’s history includes not only appearances in Las Vegas with Presley, but also in Europe. He spent many years in a junkyard in France. It will now be displayed in a prominent location in Orlando’s tourist district.
The original modified car was designed by Jay Oberg, whose other models are on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum.
“We kind of reinvented the wheel, so to speak, because the techniques that Mr. Oberg had on the original car worked well for what he did with that car,” Osborne said. “But what we did with it was we wanted something a little more reliable, a little more robust, so we put in a completely new braking system because all the cables and wiring run through the shaft of the car.”
The “1-Elvis” license plate on a restored Elvis guitar-shaped car is on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum in Deserland Park on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Thursday, January 8, 2026, media preview of the restored Elvis guitar-shaped car on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum in Deserland Park. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Mechanic Orlando Nunez sits in the cockpit of a restored Elvis guitar-shaped car on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum in Deserland Park on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Mechanic Orlando Nunez sits in the cockpit of a restored guitar-shaped car currently on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Details on the 450-horsepower V8 engine — Media preview of the restored Elvis guitar-shaped car on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum in Deserland Park, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026 (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
An Eldorado badge on a restored Elvis guitar-shaped car is on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum in Deserland Park on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
A Cadillac badge on a restored Elvis guitar-shaped car is on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum in Deserland Park on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Media preview of the restored Elvis guitar-shaped car on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum in Deserland Park, Thursday, January 8, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
The 41-foot-tall car was temporarily parked in front of Desert Land, but now visitors can see inside the car at the Orlando Automotive Museum. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Media preview of the restored Elvis guitar-shaped car on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum in Deserland Park, Thursday, January 8, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Matching painted hubcaps on a restored Elvis guitar-shaped car on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum in Deserland Park on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Media preview of the restored Elvis guitar-shaped car on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum in Deserland Park, Thursday, January 8, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
A guitar-shaped car named after Elvis Presley is part of the Orlando Automotive Museum, an attraction at Desertland Park on International Drive in Orlando. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Media preview of the restored Elvis guitar-shaped car on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum in Deserland Park, Thursday, January 8, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Media preview of the restored Elvis guitar-shaped car on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum in Deserland Park, Thursday, January 8, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Automotive engineer Richardson Sanabria poses with a restored guitar-shaped car currently on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum. Sanabria spent more than 30 hours painting the car during its restoration. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
From left to right, Greg Oborn, mechanic Orlando Nunez, and auto body technician Richardson Sanabria pose for a photo with a restored Elvis guitar-shaped car on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum in Desert Land Park. Thursday, January 8, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
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The “1-Elvis” license plate on a restored Elvis guitar-shaped car is on display at the Orlando Automotive Museum in Deserland Park on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
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It’s now running and you can move it to another location. On Thursday morning, workers drove cars from outside the front of Desert Land Park to designated locations inside the attraction. It also comes with new sounds to match its looks.
“We installed a nice deep, throaty exhaust system in and under the engine,” Osborn said.
Despite its length, it can move precisely around corners and handle corners, he said.
“We’re pushing about 400 horsepower properly. … So we’ve got a lot of power. If we wanted to, we could burn tires all over the lap course,” he said.
“Once you get used to the length, you can drive it anywhere comfortably.”
The purchase price for the guitar car by Dezer has not been announced. His Orlando Automotive Museum houses more than 2,500 rare and famous cars, estimated to be worth more than $200 million. The collection includes big-screen star cars, international rarities, antiques, military vehicles, and the world’s longest limousine, created by Ohlberg.
The attraction will have a special price of $19.35 (think Presley’s birth year) on January 8th and 9th. Tickets can be purchased online. On January 10th and 11th, visitors dressed as Elvis will receive a free ticket to the museum and can purchase up to three additional tickets for $19.35 each. Other Presley-inspired activities are planned for two later dates at Desertland Park as part of Rock ‘n’ Roll Weekend.
dbevil@orlandosentinel.com
