Elvis tour bus comes to Tupelo

3/2/2009 6:15:11 AM

BY M. SCOTT MORRIS
Daily Journal

TUPELO - A little more of Elvis Presley is coming to his hometown.

Bill Kinard, president of Legacy Hall of Fame, said he has taken possession of a 1976-77 MCI diesel tour bus and a 1957 pink and black Cadillac that once belonged to the King of Rock n' Roll.

"We're going to get them cleaned up then put them on display," said Kinard, who owns the Fans Forever Memorial Wall in Elvis Presley Heights.

Kinard and his wife, Linda, inherited the vehicles from the Professional Sports Hall of Fame Museum in Oregon. When the museum's founder, Bruce Buseman, died in 2004, the Kinards were the museum's only legal board members.

"We'd never met Mr. Buseman in person," Kinard said. "We talked to him over the phone several times."

After some legal wrangling, a judge ruled that the bus and the car belonged to the Kinards. The judgment also included cars that were featured in the movies, "Wayne's World," "The Blues Brothers" and "Megaforce," as well as other Presley memorabilia.

The Kinards' priority was to get the bus and car to Tupelo. They worked with Larry Michaels with Celebrity Coaches to transport the vehicles. Celebrity Coaches will oversee the rehabilitation of the bus.

The goal is to have the Presley vehicles on display by June 1 in time for the 2009 Elvis Presley Festival. Kinard said if work isn't complete by then, it'll be done in time for the anniversary of Presley's death in August.

"We're trying to give people another reason to come to Tupelo," Kinard said. "We're just trying to help the city stimulate tourism."

http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=286594&pub=1&div=Lifestyles

ELVIS PRESLEY' TCB TOUR BUS
Several months ago Joe Krein was approached to help promote Elvis Presley’s tour bus. Actually it
was to help in advertising a plea to raise money in order to restore and preserve ‘Elvis Presley’
s TCB Tour Bus’. The plea was for donations of $5.00 $10.00 and etc., (US Dollars) from
individuals or a fan club can donate what ever they wanted.
The owner, Bill Kinard sent a photo, and right away it was clear that this was NOT Elvis Presley’
s tour bus. This was the bus for J.D. Sumner and the Stamps. Yes, Elvis purchased paid for
the bus, however it was NEVER used by Elvis Presley for his tours.
Kinard insisted that it was Elvis’ tour bus, used by Elvis and when Elvis heard J.D. needed a
tour bus, he gave him his own personal bus?
NO! Elvis never did use this bus as his tour bus! To our knowledge, Elvis did drive the bus on
two occasions. The first time was when he first bought it. Elvis asked J.D. if he could drive it. J.
D. got a little nervous and Elvis said; “If I break it I’ll buy you another one.” After the history of the
bus was proved to Mr Kinard he then changed the story.
So imagine our surprise when we awoke yesterday to see news on many Elvis sites with the
headlines “Elvis bus is coming to tupelo”. And what do you know, it’s the SAME bus being
promoted by the SAME person……Mr Bill Kinard.
Not once in the promotion does he mention J.D. Sumner, let alone that it was the Stamps bus
and NOT Elvis’. Mr. Kinard knows full well its not Elvis’ bus and so we can only assume that
does not care about this important fact?
On Mr. Kinards website he states; “Legacy Hall of Fame Inc. plans to bring Elvis Presley's TCB
Tour Bus and a 1957 Pink Cadillac that Elvis purchased to East, Tupelo, Mississippi, restore it,
and put it on display for fans to come and see from around the world. In order to do this we
must raise funds to pay for the cost to save the TCB Tour Bus, restore it, and construct a fans
museum to protect the bus and display the above. Legacy Hall of Fame Inc. is asking for
donations of $5.00, $10.00 and etc., (US Dollars) from individuals, a fan club can donate what
ever they like.”
Once again we inform Mr. Kinard that this bus with the TCB logo on the side is NOT Elvis
Presley’s tour bus! It was NEVER used by Elvis Presley on any of his tours! It was bought for J.
D. Sumner and The Stamps Quartet by Elvis who did “test drive” the bus when it first arrived.
The F.B.E.I spoke with Stamps Quartet singer, Ed Hill , who confirmed that this bus was
bought for J.D. Sumner by Elvis and that it was never actually used by Elvis personally.
Elvis express radio