Vehicle Description
1976 Lincoln Continental Mark IV Purchased new by Elvis
PresleyIconic vehicle memorabilia from one of history?s most
well-known entertainers, Elvis Presley!Car is an example of Elvis?
generosity; he personally purchased this car new for Dr. Gerald
Starkey of Denver, Colorado in 1976 as a thank-youDr. Starkey kept
this Lincoln until his death in 2009, sold on the original 1976
Colorado title47,103 miles and believed to be original True
survivor Lincoln and final model year for Lincoln?s Mark IVOriginal
460 CID 385 Series V-8 engine with four-barrel carburetor and dual
exhausts (code A)C6 three-speed Select-Shift automatic transmission
(code U) and 2.75 gearing (code 2)Original Tan exterior (code 6U)
with original Dark Saddle vinyl roof with full Normandie grain and
original Saddle leather interior (code BZ)Air-conditioning with
automatic temperature control, power steering, power four-wheel
disc brakes, tilt steering column, power windows, driver?s remote
sideview mirror, power locks and six-way power front
seatsDocumentation includes original window sticker; original bill
of sale (truncated); factory build sheet, original Colorado
registration, original manual, original dealer jacket, all original
delivery paperwork, original warranty card and original warranty
papers; Polaroid photos of the car at Mausolf Classic Cars in
Denver; a hand-written note from Dr. Starkey, dated May 26, 1978
verifying the purchase; two copies of the personal check Elvis
wrote the pay for the car; a copy of the dealer sales order for the
car; newspaper articles from The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain
News about Dr. Starkey and the car A true, honest piece of Elvis
history, this Lincoln has the honor of being purchased by the man
himself, Elvis Presley.Elvis Presley personally purchased this
Lincoln for a Denver doctor friend who helped Presley during what
became his final winter vacation to Vail, Colorado. That car, a
1976 Lincoln Continental Mark IV, purchased by Elvis for Dr. Gerald
Starkey is here exclusively for sale at MotoeXotica Classic Cars.
Dr. Starkey's personal lifetime friend Denver Police Captain Jerry
Kennedy also received a blue 1976 Lincoln Continental Mark IV also
purchased new by Elvis Presley. That car recently sold at the The
Tupelo Automobile Museum Bonhams Auction for $47,040. This Lincoln
was kept by Dr. Starkey until his death in 2011. The car is still
sold on the original 1976 Colorado title and still in Starkey's
name and is included with all the original delivery paperwork!The
story is that on January 4, 1976, Elvis, made a spontaneous
decision to head to Vail, Colorado for a vacation with Linda
Thompson and a party of 17 other people. Before arrival, Presley
contacted his personal friend at the Denver Police Department,
Captain Jerry Kennedy to be part of his ?advance party? while in
Vail. Kennedy handled as a security guard at one of Elvis? Denver
shows almost six years earlier and the two struck up a friendship
since.Per newspaper stories, Presley experienced a negative skin
reaction from a wool ski mask he wore, by day while snowmobiling
and by night so he could shop and move in public anonymously.
Kennedy introduced Presley to Dr. Gerald Starkey, the police
department?s medical coordinator. Starkey recommended a face
ointment to clear Presley?s skin. As a thank-you gift, Presley
bought Starkey this Mark IV on January 14, 1976. It had six miles
on the odometer. The account is verified by a hand-written note
from Starkey dated May 28, 1978, about nine months after Presley
died. This Mark IV was one of five cars Presley bought for people
that night; he spent more than $70,000 including the blue Lincoln
purchased for Captain Kennedy.Documentation includes original
window sticker; original bill of sale (truncated); factory build
sheet, original Colorado registration, original manual, original
dealer jacket, all original delivery paperwork, original warranty
card and original warranty papers; Polaroid photos of the car at
Mausolf Classic Cars in Denver; a hand-written note from Dr.
Starkey, dated May 26, 1978 verifying the purchase; two copies of
the personal check Elvis wrote the pay for the car; a copy of the
dealer sales order for the car; newspaper copies from The Denver
Post featuring Starkey?s obituary on September 10, 2009 and the
Rocky Mountain News dated January 16, 1976 reporting the sale and
another dated October 16, 1994 after Kennedy had retired.?He said
to me, ?If anyone says anything to you about me giving you this
car, just remember you gave me that flashlight, the one that the
police use, and that flashlight is as big a bite out of your
pocketbook as this car is out of mine,?? Kennedy said of Presley in
1994.Made at Ford?s Wixom, Michigan (VIN code Y) assembly plant on
November 7, 1975, this car was routed to the Denver, Colorado sales
region (DSO code 51) and shipped by rail to the Kumpf Motor Car
Company, at 869 Broadway in Denver. Standard equipment included a
leather interior, dual exhausts, air-conditioning with automatic
temperature control (a/c compressor engages but air blows hot),
power four-wheel disc brakes, power steering, power windows, power
locks, six-way power front seats, tilt steering column, cruise
control, electric rear window defroster, AM/FM stereo with
Quadrasonic eight-track cassette deck (power antenna is inop),
intermittent windshield wipers, remote-control driver?s sideview
mirror, forged aluminum wheels, and more.Dressed in correct and
original tan (code 6U), the car?s paint and trim are in very good
order, with only some very minor blemishes visible upon close
inspection. The car has a contrasting Dark Saddle vinyl roof with
Full Normandie grain (code FZ). The car?s bodywork is straight and
solid, its chrome bumpers are in very good condition and the engine
bay is tidy but very original for a car from the mid-1970s.This
Mark IV rolls on Sears RoadHandler 50 steel-belted radials, size
P235/75R15 at all four corners. Each tire is mounted on a forged
aluminum wheels with factory wheel covers. All tires and wheels are
in good, original shape.Under that sprawling hood is Ford?s 460 CID
V-8 engine (code A), a company mainstay during the 1970s. It has a
four-barrel carburetor and breathes via dual exhausts. Backing this
motor is Ford?s C6 three-speed automatic with Select-Shift (code U)
and a 2.75:1 rear end (code 2). Driver convenience items are
plentiful, as expected ? air-conditioning with automatic
temperature control, power steering, power four-wheel disc brakes,
power windows, power locks, six-way power front seats, tilt
steering column, cruise control, rear window defroster and a
remote-control driver?s sideview mirror.Inside, the car?s Saddle
leather interior (code BZ) is overall very good order. The Twin
Comfort Lounge front seats, with separate fold-down armrests, and
look great. The rear bench seat has a single fold-down center
armrest. The matching saddle carpet is in good, original order
while the headliner is in very good order. The slim, two-spoke
steering wheel with individual horn buttons looks fine while the
inner door panels and instrument panel, with Cartier Clock, look
great for a 43-year-old car. Completing the interior is a factory
AM/FM stereo with Quadrasonic eight-track cassette deck (you can?t
get more 1970s than that!).The Continental Mark IV is a personal
luxury car sold from the 1972 to 1976 model years. The third
generation of the Mark series, the Mark IV grew in size over its
Mark III predecessor and its Cadillac Eldorado rival. Sharing a
common chassis with the Ford Thunderbird, the Mark IV was given its
own exterior design from the windows down, returning hidden
headlights, a radiator-style grille and a Continental spare tire
trunk lid.With designers again using sharp-edged fenders, hidden
headlamps, and a tall radiator-style grille, the Continental Mark
IV retained the traditional ?long-hood, short deck? coupe
proportions of the Mark III along with its ?Continental spare ti