Elvis Presley will take to the highways in
February when the new Elvis specialty license
plate is expected to be ready for distribution
through the Tennessee Revenue Department.
The plate was first proposed in 2005 and took
two years to gather enough buyers and work its
way through the state approval process as a
fund-raising tool for the Regional Medical
Centre at Memphis and its Elvis Presley Memorial
Trauma Centre.
Med Foundation spokesman Michael Scruggs said
about 1,160 Tennesseans ordered the specialty
tags, exceeding the minimum order of 1,000
plates needed to justify production. The Med
will receive about $20 of each $35 specialty
license fee, while hoping to increase sales of
the plate once they go on sale in February.
Revenue Department spokesman Sophie Moery said
people who preordered the plates will be
notified by mail when the plates are ready for
distribution via county court clerks' offices in
February. Until then, no more orders are being
taken for the Elvis plate.
The plate features a classic Elvis pose from a
photograph taken during a 1955 concert in Tampa,
Fla., just before the release of his first No. 1
hit, "Heartbreak Hotel," in 1956.
The plate becomes one of more than 150 specialty
plates in production in Tennessee. The most
popular is a "Friends of Great Smoky Mountains"
plate. The next most popular are a state-flower
iris plate and a "Watchable Wildlife" plate.
Posted: 12th. December 2007