A 1962-built Lockheed C-140 JetStar, which is now a mere heap of scrap metal, changed hands at auction earlier this year for $234.000. The "pile of rust", which was once Elvis Presley's last private jet, has not been airworthy for a long time.

The singer acquired this plane about a year before his death. It was the third machine he bought. However, he has flown significantly less with the JetStar than with the other two aircraft he has previously had. Elvis Presley passed away in 1977. This also affected his last private jet, which was left to rot in the New Mexico desert for around 40 years.

The present JetStar, which was sold on January 8, 2023 at the Roswell International Air Center for 234.000 euros, is in correspondingly miserable condition. Originally this aircraft was registered N440RM, but it has not been in the air for decades. But what is the new owner actually planning to do with the “scrap heap”?

The Lockheed C-140 will no longer take off, but it should still travel through the United States of America again. Jimmy's World buyer James Webb, known for his activities on YouTube, wants to convert it into a kind of mobile home and offer Elvis tours around the USA. The wings and engines - or what's left of them - are to be dismantled and sold to fans.

The YouTuber confirmed to Fox News, "We're going to take an RV chassis, take the house part off the RV, and put the plane on top so this can be the 'Elvis Experience'." In a video he published, it can be seen that after an extremely long period of downtime, he gave the jet power again, and to his surprise, after more than 40 years of downtime, numerous lights and lamps were still lit.

According to official information, Elvis Presley bought the present JetStar on December 22, 1976 for $840.000. The equipment consisted, among other things, of seats covered with red velvet, a special sound system and televisions. Compared to today's private jets, they are rather spartan.

A few days ago, the last Elvis jet was transferred from New Mexico to Florida, where the conversion work is to be carried out, at the expense of the new owner. Of course, the transport did not take place by air, but by land, because the JetStar, which has gotten on in years, has not been airworthy for a long time and will never be again.

From today's perspective, the JetStar has a number of special features. It is a with four turbojet engines powered business jet. Furthermore, the aircraft had to be operated with a flight engineer become. The latter was not uncommon at the time. Between 1957 and 1978, Lockheed manufactured a total of 204 examples in various versions. The pattern was also used by various armed forces for military purposes.