[Image: Iain Cameron / Flickr]
Janis Joplin might have been pining for a Merc in her 1970 track ‘Mercedes Benz’, but just like all her friends who drive Porsches, the hippie queen used to bomb down the highways of the West Coast in her own eye-catching psychedelic Porsche 356 SC.
For many people, their cars are an extension of themselves, so it’s no surprise that Joplin’s Porsche was a mad-cap canvas that was as much art as a roadster.
Joplin first purchased the Porsche when her group, Big Brother and the Holding Company, started to make it big in terms of commercial success. At the time, the legendary vocalist reportedly paid $3,500 for the car, which came in a distinctly dull dolphin grey. If there was one thing that Joplin was not, however, it was dull. Hence, a respray was required.
Luckily, the singer’s road manager, Dave Richards, was on hand to give the car a uniquely Joplin paint job, rendering the Porsche in a stunning psychedelic mural entitled “History of the Universe”.
Richards was paid $500 for the painting, which was then encased in a clear coat to protect it. From that point on, the car became an extension of Joplin, and fans would regularly cheer as the car sped past them in Los Angeles or San Francisco.
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Psychedelic paint jobs were not a particularly rare thing in the hippie subculture, but usually, they were reserved for cheap cars like the Beetles or kombis. But Joplin’s Porsche 356 SC was always as unique as she was. And dare we say, as desirable.
After Joplin’s tragic death via a heroin overdose in 1970, her manager, Albert Grossman, took ownership of the car. After falling into disrepair, the 356 was eventually returned to the Joplin family in 1975, when it was taken under the wing of her brother, Michael Joplin.
Michael restored the car to its former glory, completely rebuilding the 1.6L engine and breathing new life into the tired vehicle. However, by this time, the psychedelic paint job that Joplin’s road manager had created had eroded somewhat.
As mad as it may sound, Micheal decided to restore the car to its original dolphin grey colour scheme, and for years, the Porsche remained in this dull state until the Joplin family eventually decided that the psychedelic paint looked much better.
After commissioning artists Jana Mitchell and Amber Owen to recreate the original ‘History of the Universe’ paintwork, the car spent many years on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum.
Auction estimates of between $400,000 to $600,000 were set, but they might have ignored Joplin’s influence on popular culture as the psychedelic Porsche eventually sold for a groovy $1.76 million.
We’d say it was worth it. It’s not every day you get to drive around in a piece of rock ‘n roll history.
[Source: Far Out Magazine]
