What Would Dolly Drive? The Dolly Parton Car Collection
For decades the world has been fascinated with Dolly Parton. Whether it’s her winning smile or just the light refracting from the thousands of rhinestones adorning the garments she wears, Dolly Parton always lights up the room.
It should come as no surprise that the cars she has selected over the years have been as unique and meaningful to the people around her as she is.
The Hollywood Stars Car Collection
Since becoming famous, Dolly Parton has had an affinity for driving Cadillacs. Her 1997 Cadillac D’Elegance was her personal favorite. She kept that car and drove it for over a decade. It now makes it home among the Hollywood Stars Car Collection in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
In October 2008, representatives of the Hollywood Stars Car Museum met with Dolly in Nashville to add her 1997 Cadillac D’Elegance to the collection at the Hollywood Stars ar Museum. Dolly not only signed over the vehicle that day, but she also left her signature on the armrests.
After making her contribution to the collection, Dolly upgraded to a new Cadillac Escalade Hybrid.
The Dolly-Mama: Dolly Parton’s Gold Cadillac
Dolly Parton is known for her generosity and has always loved her family in a big way. Not only did she drive Cadillacs, but she also bought her mother Cadillacs too. She would trade hers in for the newest model because it made her mama so happy. One year for Christmas, the last one she bought for her mother was a gold Cadillac that she affectionately calls the Dolly-Mama. Both Dolly and her husband, Carl Dean, drive it because it is such a precious thing to them.
The Big Blue Truck
The same year that the Dolly-Mama made its appearance, she also wanted to do something for her daddy. Dolly decided to buy a big blue truck for him. Now that he’s gone, Dolly still has the truck and told Billboard why it was so vital for her to keep her father’s truck.
Take a ride in Dolly Parton’s Lightning Rod at Dollywood
Technically the Lightning Rod at Dollywood theme park isn’t a ride Dolly would share with you since she doesn’t ride roller coasters. It was important to her to find a way to include the fond memories she had of the hot rods in her hometown of Sevierville, TN, growing up. Lightning Rod became a way to share that as part of her beloved rocky mountain amusement park.
“Lightning Rod reminds me so much of those colorful cars cruisin’ up and down Main Street in downtown Sevierville back when I was in high school. I remember all those souped up cars; I’m truly excited about this ride because it will let our guests experience something just as fast as those hot rods I remember,”
The Lightning Rod is themed after the 1950s-era hot rod. Riders go from 0 to 45mph at 20 stories up a hill. Once cresting the hill, riders tackle the first 165-foot drop just after two brief hills before it. Then they race the Lightning Rod along its 3,800-ft track at a top speed of 73 mph, the fastest speed for a wooden coaster in the world.
The Dolly Parton No.2 Chevrolet Camaro
Dolly has had plenty of famous duets in her career, but none that moved as quickly as the one with NASCAR driver Tyler Reddick. Quite literally. Tyler Reddick’s No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro made its debut at the Alsco 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, graced with Dolly’s face on the hood and her signature 9 and 5 sandwiching the No.2 of Reddick’s car.
The bright pink coloring was easy to spot on the track and included the Dollywood theme park logo on the rear quarter panels and the DollyParton.com website across the back roof. The deck lid shared many of Dolly’s local Tennessee attractions, and Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort & Spa and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library received placement on the car’s rear fascia.
