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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 10, 1992                   TAG: 9201100077
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: WENDI GIBSON
DATELINE: MOCCASIN GAP                                LENGTH: Short

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HONK OF BURNIN' LOVE

Even zooming down Virginia 19, you can't possibly miss the 1962 Cadillac - a bright pink one - parked in front of Max Katz's Ho-Sale Gold shop.

In fact, you might just stop to pose beside the car, with its smiling Elvis doll sitting behind the wheel. And if you do, that's OK, says Katz - you wouldn't be the only one to have romanced this baby.

Katz's shop, just off the highway outside of Abingdon, sits opposite the John Douglas Wayside, a spot that lures picnicking tourists and Washington Countians.

To reel in these and other passersby, Katz bought and painted the Caddy, hung out his fluorescent green "Honk if You Luv Elvis" sign and propped the Elvis doll - a shadeless lamp procured from a woman in Grundy whose husband hated it - on the front seat.

Besides Katz's four-lane honkers, a group of Coeburn senior citizens has\ flashed their pearlies beside The King.

He also has attracted a fair amount of "kooks who think they're Elvis - overweight men with big sideburns." One Tazewell man claims he is Elvis and believes Katz, who always wears black, is Roy Orbison!

For the summer, Katz is considering hiring bikinied girls to say cheese with the Elvis fans. Not that his business is hurting now: He's seen a 480 percent increase over 1990 sales.

Proudly he says, "You can blame that on Elvis."

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