08 November 2013

Janis Joplin's psychedelic Porsche

In September 1968, the budding rock star paid a Beverly Hills auto dealer $3,500 for the three-year-old sports car. When she bought it, the Porsche was a factory-painted "oyster white." For a flamboyant singer who wore rose-colored glasses and feather boas, that wouldn't do. So she got roadie Dave Richards to paint it with swirling psychedelic images, including Mount Tamalpais on one fender and a portrait of her with her band, Big Brother and the Holding Company, on another.

The singer's 1965 Porsche 356c Cabriolet, which she bought when she was living in Larkspur, is usually enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. It came to Marin from the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, where it was on loan.

"They used regular house paint," Michael Joplin recalled. "They were just playing around, saying, 'Hey, let's make an art car.' They were having a lot of fun. It was a convertible, and she would drive it around with the top down. People would leave notes for her on it."
More details about the history of the car at the YouTube "about" section, where my objection re the choice of the song in the video is anticipated by the comment that her iconic "my friends all drive Porches, I must make amends" lyrics couldn't be used because of copyright protection.

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