Florida YouTube star buys Elvis Presley's private jet
Jimmy Webb plans on transforming Elvis Presley's abandoned private jet into a RV and travel across the country and meet fans and support charity work. (FOX 13)
Elvis Presley's abandoned private jet has relocated to Florida where a popular YouTube star hopes to transform the once-opulent aircraft into a RV.
The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s 1962 Lockheed JetStar made the journey from Roswell, New Mexico, to Florida, traveling more than 1,600 miles after it sat abandoned in the desert for 40 years. It is now being stored in Plant City, Florida, where James Webb of "Jimmy’s World" on YouTube has already begun re-envisioning the piece of history.
In 1962, Elvis bought a private jet, a Lockheed Jetstar. He designed the inside himself. (Jimmy Webb via FOX 13)
After Elvis died in 1977, the plane sat abandoned on a tarmac in New Mexico. (Jimmy Webb via FOX 13)
Webb bought the battered jet for $234,000 at an auction at the Roswell International Air Center in New Mexico on Jan 8 — which would have been Presley’s 88th birthday.
"It was the biggest financial purchase I have ever made, outside of a house, and this was ironically more expensive than my house," Webb told FOX 13. "How crazy is that?"
The King bought the jet on Dec. 22, 1976, for $840,000- more than triple the amount Webb bought the private aircraft for.
Elvis shared this red jet with his dad, Vernon Presley. But after The King died, the plane was abandoned. (Jimmy Webb via FOX 13)
It wasn't the star's only jet. The 1962 Lockheed JetStar L-1329 was the third aircraft in his fleet. Aside from being a means for exclusive transportation, he also split the plane with his father, Vernon Presley.
In the jet's former glory, it featured enough room to sit nine passengers comfortably.
Before it fell into disarray, it featured a bright red velvet interior with wood paneling and a shag carpet.
ELVIS PRESLEY’S PAL RECALLS LAST TIME HE SAW THE KING: ‘EVERYBODY HAD TEARS IN THEIR EYES’
Webb’s plan is to take the next year to transform the plane into a RV before he takes off to tour the country and raise funds for charities.
"We’re going to take an RV chassis, take the house part of the RV off, put [the plane] on that, so this can be the ‘Elvis Experience,’" Webb explained.
The plane fell into disrepair, but Jimmy Webb hopes to transform the 1962 Lockheed JetStar L-1329 into an RV to commemorate Elvis Presley's life and legacy. (Jimmy Webb via FOX 13)
The hanger where YouTuber Jimmy Webb is rehabilitating Elvis Presley's private jet in Plant City, Florida. (Jimmy Webb via FOX 13)
He wants to take the plane to wherever he can find Elvis fans.
The first order of business for Webb was to remove wheelbarrow-loads of nesting material that was woven into the wiring.
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