Janis Joplin’s Porsche 356 is For Sale

September 15, 2015

12 comments

In many ways, this is already the perfect Porsche: it’s been owned by a single family for decades, has been well cared for, and is one of the most desirable 356 models. But, wait—what kind of paint job is that?

On any other car, its hand-painted psychedelic mural would have long since been concealed—in fact, a thief once tried to do just that—but Janis Joplin’s 365 was far from normal. After her album Cheap Thrills became a hit, the used Cabriolet was bought in Beverly Hills, quickly becoming known across the California music scene.

Customized by her roadie and friend Dave Richards, this work is titled, “History of the Universe,” and sees the car reimagined as a sort of psychedelic turtle, carrying all of creation on its back. In other words, it’s groovy.

Formerly on long-term display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on loan from Joplin’s family, it’ll be auctioned at RM Sotheby’s Driven By Disruption sale in New York on December 10. Are you cool enough to drive The Queen of Psychedelic Soul’s Porsche?

via: http://rmsothebys.com

Image Sources: rmsothebys.com, jakescarworld.blogspot.ca

Tags German/ Janis Joplin/ Porsche 356

Join the Conversation

Travel Goodwood Revival Is As Close As We’ll Ever Come To Time Travel

View Comments

Featured What’s So Lovable About The Alfa Romeo 75?

Journal My First Classic Drive Was In A Porsche 356C

July 6, 2016

Featured This Porsche 356 Used To Be A Theatre’s ‘Greased Lightning’ Prop

May 17, 2016

Featured Driving A Perfectly Tuned Speedster Is One Of Life’s Great Pleasures

February 16, 2016

Featured All 356 Speedsters Should Be Set Up To Dominate Winter

January 25, 2016

Featured This Porsche 356 Super 90 Will Race Anywhere, Anytime

November 10, 2015

Featured This Is What It’s Like To Drive A Porsche 356 Race Car

October 19, 2015

Paul Thompson

It’s certainly got a great history it will be interesting to see what this makes at auction. Hope whoever buys it keeps the paint intact.

Of all these cars the ultimate rock ‘n roll car has got to be Keef Richards Bentley ‘Blue Lena’. That made £760k last week what an incredible history that car has and it certainly added big premium.

Jim Bair

Oh Lord, she may have wanted a Mercedes Benz, but someone got Color TV all over her Porsche (probably during a night on the town). 😉

Guitar Slinger

It was the 60’s … things were different back then [ have a look at the cover art for the album in question ” Cheap Thrills ” ] … not always ‘ better ‘ …. mind you …. but very very different indeed .

” What a long strange trip its been ” … and getting stranger by the minute

Guitar Slinger

… FYI .. if anything this would of been the result of one tab too many .. not a night on the town ..

as in …. ” Go ask Alice .. when she’s ten feet tall ” .. or to put it another way … some of Dr Tim’s magic elixir

Brad Letney

It’s not the same paint job. From a distance it looks the same, but look at the details, and it’s definitely different. I would need documentation to prove it’s the same car.

Guitar Slinger

Right off the bat and without getting into the minute details and one of the problems [ other than the license plate ] I had the last time JJ’s 356 showed up here …. the paint job is way too fresh and shiny to be the original . I’ve seen the original .. spent a lot of time with it [ thanks to a few industry connections ] … examined it from nose to tail back in the 70’s .. again in the 80’s with a quick revisit in the 90’s and I can promise you that paint job was… Read more »

George Guba

It says “restored” in the ad. Obviously clear coated as well. What other changes?

carbuildindex

Wallace Wyss wrote an interesting feature about the car on our site where he goes more into detail about its history than RM Sotheby’s does. Turns out the car was stolen while she was on stage in San Francisco and the thieves painted it battleship gray with spray cans before it was recovered and returned to her, then was loaned out to musicians after her death by her former manager…
http://tinyurl.com/q7xyguh

Guitar Slinger

Whats interesting is even the somewhat better write up on WW’s site admits hardly anyone knows which car truly was and/or is Janice’s and which one isn’t . One of the biggest problems being 1)no one is clear as to exactly where she bought it and 2) there is absolutely no documentation … e.g. sales receipts .. CA DMV records …. nada to back up the claim that this or any other 356 was hers . Toss in the many purported paint jobs over the years … the questionable passages of ownership /possession etc .. And then there’s the case… Read more »

Christopher Gay

Bingo.

Matthew Lange

I’m not usually one for cars that once had celebrity owners and really don’t see why people want to pay millions for cars once owned by Steve McQueen, but I have to say this is very cool.

Guitar Slinger

99.999\% of the time I’m right on board with ya Mr Lange … but this one is special . Not so much for who owned it as for who painted it and why and the fact that it exemplifies the very essence of what the 60’s and especially the 60’s music scene was all about . In my never humble opinion this car transcends Star Car and is elevated to Art Car status that happened to of been owned by a star . But I’ll say no matter the price once the gavel hits the podium it’ll still be grotesquely… Read more »

| |

Join the Family

How was the drive?

Reset Your Password

Janis Joplin’s Porsche 356 is For Sale

Leave a Reply