Fans Will Be “All Shook Up” For Elvis Presley’s 1956 Lincoln Continental Mark II

Cometeers,

Just a quick reminder the Food Lion AutoFair is just around the corner. If you plan to attend please take time to contact our club president Bill Adams by email or by phone. If you show your Comet or Cyclone with Comet East admission will be free !

email: president@cometeastcarclub.org

Phone: 803-799-5273

Rock & Roll Comets !!

Fans Will Be “All Shook Up” For Elvis Presley’s 1956 Lincoln Continental Mark II

at the April 4-7 Food Lion AutoFair

Elvis Presley's 1956 Lincoln Continental Mark II will be on display at the April 4-7 Food Lion AutoFair. (Photo Credit: Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.)

CONCORD, N.C. (Feb. 14, 2013) – In the 1950s, the world couldn’t help falling in love with Elvis Presley and now fans can view one of The King of Rock ‘N’ Roll’s personal vehicles, a 1956 Lincoln Continental Mark II, at the April 4-7 Food Lion AutoFair at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“AutoFair has always had unique displays, but there has never been anything quite like this,” said Marcus Smith, president and general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway. “Elvis is the world’s biggest music icon, and I know car lovers and Elvis fans alike are going to love seeing this rare automobile straight from Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Memphis.”

In August of 1956, Elvis purchased the Continental Mark II in Miami with proceeds from his recent tour. He needed a new daily driver after fans had written all over his other Lincoln with lipstick. The new car quickly became one of Elvis’ favorites, and he even drove it to New Orleans for the filming of his popular movie, “King Creole.”

Elvis’ Mark II is one of only about 3,000 ever made during a production run that ended in 1957. The all-white Elvis car came with white wall tires and a hefty price tag of $10,000; equivalent to the cost of a Rolls Royce in 1956. Originally unveiled at the Paris Auto Show in 1955, the Mark II was only offered in one body style, a two-door hardtop coupe, and included every luxury automobile feature available at the time.

“Whenever artifacts leave Graceland in Memphis, the location for an artifact loan must have a natural connection. Deciding to partner with Charlotte Motor Speedway made perfect sense because of Elvis’ history of having filmed part of a movie at the track,” said Kevin Kern, director of public relations for Elvis Presley’s Graceland.

Elvis’ Mark II will be the centerpiece display in the showcase pavilion at AutoFair. Fans will also be able to view other items from Graceland, including artifacts from the 1968 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture, “Speedway,” parts of which were filmed at Charlotte Motor Speedway and starred Elvis as a race car driver. Artifacts include the original movie poster featuring Elvis and co-star Nancy Sinatra, the official script, the movie’s soundtrack album, a large illuminated sign that was used as a prop and Elvis’ navy suit from the movie.

The Food Lion AutoFair annually attracts more than 100,000 visitors, features nearly 50 car club displays and offers a surplus of automotive parts and memorabilia for sale or trade. There’s also a collector car auction conducted by Dealer Auctions Inc. and a car corral of 1,500 spaces filled with all makes and models for sale or trade that that encircles the 1.5-mile superspeedway.

A Snapshot of the Past

A Snapshot of the Past

The Savoy camera made Mercury shoppers feel like winners

Feature Article from Hemmings Motor News

May, 2012 - Words and Photography by Mattnew Litwin

Pop quiz: What's the fastest means to get foot traffic into a dealership? A mass mailing claiming that the countless recipients won some sort of prize (no purchase necessary); from the mundane straight up to a chance to win a new car. Just last year, dozens of Bennington, Vermont, residents were subjected to such hopes and dreams, most of whom received $5 gift cards--courtesy of a local dealership--to a mega-chain store; on the way out the door, the less-than-excited salesman told us not to spend it all at once. This tactical approach to potentially increasing one's sales figures is hardly new to the industry.
Exactly 52 years ago, the Lincoln-Mercury Division of Ford Motor Company--more specifically, Mercury-Comet--sent out thousands of letters to their client list, all of whom were considered prospective repeat buyers, proclaiming that they were lucky winners. In a fit of creative thinking, it was called Prize-O-Rama, and each envelope hid a numbered prize certificate within. A letter would accompany the certificate stating, "First prize is a beautiful 1961 Mercury. Second prize is a fully equipped 1961 Comet. In addition, thousands of other valuable prizes have been awarded, including cameras, television sets, stereo Hi-Fi consoles and portable typewriters. These and all other exciting prizes are listed in the attached prize folder." There was just one catch: The winning certificates could only be "validated" at your local Mercury dealership. And while you were there, "We hope you take a minute to inspect the 1961 Mercury and Comet."
Not unexpectedly, seventh-place winners far exceeded others and, of course, were given the most cost-effective gifts, including this Savoy box camera. Shipped to winners from the Mercury-Comet Gift Headquarters in Detroit, Michigan, the Savoy, and later Savoy Mark IIs--with their space-themed faceplates--were products of the Imperial Camera Corporation of Chicago, Illinois. This was a 1961 name change from Herbert George Camera Company, makers of the Imperial camera. Made from solid Bakelite and plastic, they were simplistic in that there were no adjustments available to the user; it was yesterday's version of point and shoot, with a standard roll of 620 film that provided just a dozen 2.50-inch square exposures. More notable was the fact that Imperial was one of the first camera companies to employ eye-catching colors other than black: they were available in beige, gray, light blue and this mint green example, as well. A simple flash attachment was available.
Although Imperial ceased production in 1965, their products are still affordably available if you are looking in the right spot. For owners of the 1961 Mercury and Comet models, finding a pristine example to complement your car's interior appearance at the next car show could be an interesting swap meet scavenger hunt.
This article originally appeared in the May, 2012 issue of Hemmings Motor News.

Carlisle All-Ford National Winners

Cometeers Below is a quick list of the winners for Carlisle..

Carlisle All-Ford National Winners

Best Paint- Ron Kussrow  63.5 Comet 2dr

Best Interior - Phil Heller 69 Cale Yarbrough Special

Eye Catcher Award - Den Tatro  66  Cyclone

Owners Choice - Bob Coorson 63 Custom Comet

3^rd Modified - Dong Thirkettle 65 404

2^nd Modified0 Tim Mouh 70 Cyclone Spoiler

1^st Modified- Mark Santee 63 racer

3^rd Stock -Randy Cook 70 Cyclone Spoiler

2^nd Stock -Tim Moar  70 Cyclone Spoiler

1^st Stock- John/Kim Jones 71 Cyclone Spoiler

Kevin Klotz- Carlisle Celebrity Award 3^rd Place

Comet Gathering on June 8th, 9th, and 10th in Pigeon Forge

Dear East Comet Owners and Comet Enthusiast,


I would like to invite all members of the East Comet Club to gone a Comet Gathering on June 8th, 9th, and 10th in Pigeon Forge, Tn. I'm trying to get members from all of the Comet groups to meet and just have some fun.


Location: Mountain Breeze Hotel in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, Tn. Here are the details that have been work-up to this point. Room cost 52.00 dollars per night plus taxes (normal cost is 78.00 plus taxes). Those in attendance have a choice of either a king or two queen size beds. The hotel has the following: outside pool, all rooms face the parking lot where the cars can be seen at all times, a trolly pickup stand is right in front of the hotel for those that would like to shop or go into Gatlinburg (Gatlinburg is five miles further), a place will be provided to wash the cars, and there will be a place for any person that trailers their car to unload and secure their trailer. The hotel is in the center of Peigon-Forge on the main-drag (HWY 441, 2926 Parkway). All cars will park in front of the hotel and are in plain view from the rooms. The rooms come with a refrigerator, micro-wave and coffee maker. I'll stop for now. Bring a chair and at lot of car stories (true or not) to this gathering. Although I'm posting this for 1964/1965 Comet owners, I welcome any comet owner to attend and show off their car. By the way, there will be a trip to the Classic Car Museum on Saturday for all that would like to attend. There is plenty of shopping and various shows that you can also attend during this Gathering.


To make reservations please call Suzy Campbell at (1-888-453-2659). This is a toll free phone call. Make sure to identify that you are with the Comet Gathering in order to get the Show room rate. You will need to let the phone receptionist know if you want a king or two queen size beds. Also, The Motel has two floors, make sure you let them know if you need to be on the first floor. If you need more info feel free to contact me by calling (270) 978-0100 or emailing me direct  at corky.broughton@murraystate.edu>

2012 Comet East Upcoming Events

Cometeers,

 Below is a list of upcoming shows for the 2012 show season. More information will be posted when available. 

Rock and Roll Comets...

Carlisle All-Ford NationalsJune 1 - 3, 2012

Comet East will be a part of the All Ford Nationals. You’ll find hundreds of
vendors with a variety of parts and accessories for sale, Ford & Lincoln-Mercury
vehicles for sale in the corral, special events like beauty & burnout contests, rock
crawling and much more. The best description of this showFun for the Blue Ovals!

International Edsel Meet July 25-28, 2012

Buren St Shipshewana, IN 46565
260-768-7688
Mention the Int'l Edsel Club for the special
rate of $84.99.

Bud Moore with #16 in NASCAR Hall of Fame



The photo above is of Bud Moore on May 24th at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He is one of the member to the Class of 2011

to be inducted into the Hall. Bud Moore working with NASCAR invented the "half chassic" car by grafting a 1965 Ford Galaxie front end to the 1966 Mercury Comets unibody frame. Rock & Roll Comets.. 



1962 Mercury Comet catalog art

Cometeers,

A while back I stumbled across Harry Borgman's Art Blog while surfing the internet. Mr. Borgman was a freelance artist who was hired by Lincoln Mercury to illustrate the 1962 Mercury Comet Sales Catalog. I was so impressed by his work and his story, I contacted him and ask for his permission to share his artwork and story on the Cometeer. We all enjoy looking at the artist concepts and images of our cars when they where new. I felt it was important to share Mr. Borgman’s story of how he helped make the 1962 catalog a reality. What a beautiful car..


HARRY BORGMAN ART BLOG
The pressure of automotive catalogs

More on the 1962 Mercury Comet catalog art.

When doing art for automotive catalogs you are confronted with a enormous amount of work which must be done under the pressure of a tight deadline. Not a good situation for even an experienced illustrator. You are usually working with another artist on the same illustration which can also be problematic. On the above illustration, I came to the studio very early and was pretty much underway with this background. When Jack Mills, the automotive illustrator, arrived he changed his mind about the scene's lighting situation and decided that he wanted to light the car from another direction, so I had to repaint the background. After that I presented him with small color sketches before starting to paint. Under tight deadlines you have no time to waste.

Charlie Shridde, a great illustrator in our freelance group, had some reference photos that he had taken during a polo match. He offered let me use some of them for reference material on this particular illustration which helped me a great deal.

For the figures I used my son Kurt and Charlie's wife, Jutta, she was one of Detroit's top models.

The models on this illustration were Terry Seaholm, a car penciler, for the foreground figure, and our rep Bob Witmer was photographed for the other two figures. For the gal inside the car I used Jutta and turned her into a blond. For the background reference, photos were taken in a local lumberyard.

Automotive catalog illustration was a very demanding and specialized field, not only from the aspect of the technical accuracy of the automobile, you also had to satisfy the art director and others at the ad agency as well as the manufacturer's advertising managers, all under extreme deadline pressures.

The car catalog season was an extremely busy time for artists in Detroit. Our freelance group was hard at work on Chevrolet art when another catalog assignment popped up. Jack Mills and I were asked to do all of the illustrations for the 1962 Mercury Comet catalog, the ad agency was Kenyon & Eckhardt and I believe that the art director was Lowell Jackson. We were doing art for two catalogs which wasn't unusual, as many artists would often work for competing clients or ad agencies at the same time.

On this illustration I hired a model to photograph the foreground gal and used my kids and Bob Witmer, our rep, for the other figures.

I had to search for reference on this scene, fortunately I lived near a couple of marinas. After composing the scene and doing a small color sketch I would do a pencil drawing and then block in the background with paint to establish color values and lighting, then Jack would render the car. When he was pretty much finished, I would continue working on the background, adding details and modifying color, until I was done, then he would add the final touches to the car.

A close up of the illustration to show you the details. Another hired model was used for this illustration.

Not all the illustrations required a full background. I rounded up some neighborhood girls to pose for me on this one. Like many illustrators, I used a Poloroid camera for most of the figure shots because you got an instant photo, no need for film development or a darkroom, a real time saver. Also you could immediately see if the pose was right or if you needed to take more shots. All these illustrations were rendered on Whatman cold-pressed illustration board with Windsor and Newton Designer's Colors. When we finished the illustration, our rep would take it over to the agency for the art director's and the automotive engineer's approval. More Comet illustrations on the next post.