Was the elephant an Asian elephant or an African elephant?

I don't know, but it's irrelephant to the story.

It was an Asian Elephant. There is a cut scene where it is eating noodles and says "Oh, herro, my name Charrrrott"

And what was his air-speed velocity?

That is an Asian elephant named Cora in Smokey and the Bandit 2. The ears of the Asian elephant are similar to the shape of Asia and the ears of the African elephant look much like the continent of Africa. Our friends, Bill and Cindy Morris of Elephant Encounter were the owners of Cora. Bill actually grew up with Cora as his dad was also an elephant trainer. Sadly, Bill just passed away this past April. His wife donated Cora to the Topeka Zoo and also sold them their African elephant, Shannon. Shannon grew up with their two sons. My husband and I have actually ridden on Cora and fed her bananas. She's now in her mid to late 50's and is THE sweetest thing. Shannon, on the other hand, is about 20 years younger than Cora and acts more like a teenager.

Either way its a plot hole since the movie takes place in America