Janis Joplin once possessed a colorful automobile, which fetched a high price at auction on Thursday. The 1964 Porsche 356 owned by the late singer sold at Sotheby’s “Driven by Disruption” auction for more than $1.7 million.
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The new owner of Janis Joplin’s psychedelic Porsche resides near Gull Lake.
You may recall the news reports from last December regarding the auction sale of Janis Joplin’s Psychedelic Porsche. If you see it being driven around the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek area, don’t be shocked. Gull Lake is where the new owner resides. According to sources, she purchased it as a gift for her own 60th birthday.
The 1964 Porsche 356 that was previously owned by the rock singer Janis Joplin fetched a record-breaking $1.76 million at auction. It was anticipated that the car will sell for between $400,000 and $600,000.
According to CNN, Joplin paid $3500 for the Porsche in 1968. She commissioned a mural that featured landscapes, birds, butterflies, floating eyes, mushrooms, and skull-like faces painted from bumper to bumper and door to door. The automobile was frequently seen being driven by Joplin around San Francisco. According to rumors, admirers would slip messages for her under the windshield wipers.
Sold for $1.7 million was Janis Joplin’s trippy 1964 Porsche.
The late Janis Joplin is laughing in her tomb somewhere. Her beloved Porsche 356C Cabriolet, which was boldly painted in 1960s counter-culture-inspired hues and patterns, sold for $1.76 million at auction, much exceeding the top estimate of $600,000.
It was made available as part of RM Sotheby’s Driven by Disruption vintage-car auction Thursday evening in New York. More than 30 vehicles from 70 years of automotive innovation were up for auction. At the auction, a 1956 Ferrari brought around $28 million.
Joplin, the bluesy-rock singer of her generation who passed away at age 27 from a drug overdose, is most known for her song Mercedes Benz, which has the following opening lyrics:
“Oh God, please don’t you just get me a Mercedes? All of my pals drive Porsches, so I need to make up for it.”
But she also had a Porsche. In September 1968, she paid $3,500 for the used white German-made automobile and had a friend paint a psychedelic mural on it that featured a vista of northern California and her astrological sign, Capricorn.
Joplin, who was originally from Port Arthur, Texas, joined the vibrant San Francisco music scene in the middle of the 1960s.
She continued to drive her Porsche till she passed away. After 20 years of being displayed in the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, her family, who had owned it since 1973, sold it.
The vehicle’s 4-speed manual transmission was given a comprehensive refurbishment in the early 1990s; it was said to be in good shape.
However, considering that the tragic Joplin is still a captivating performer and personality more than 40 years after her passing, condition is probably not the key factor in why someone would choose to purchase something originally owned by her.
Director Amy Berg’s documentary, Janis: Little Girl Blue, which was just released last week, charts the rise of Joplin to fame through the letters she wrote to her friends, family, and associates over the years.
Who purchased Janis’ car? As is customary with these expensive auctions, Sotheby’s is keeping quiet, and the buyer remained anonymous.
Later this month, Sotheby’s will host an auction featuring ground-breaking luxury vehicles. Highlights include a 1956 Ferrari 290 MM, one of the most expensive vehicles ever auctioned at public auction, and Janis Joplin’s colorful Porsche. (Dec. 4)
The psychedelic Porsche of Janis Joplin
For $3,500, Joplin purchased a secondhand 1965 Porsche 356c with white paint in 1968. It didn’t take her long to want to change things up, so she asked one of her roadies, Dave Roberts, to completely refinish the car’s paint. Joplin’s car took about a month to finish, but when it was, it was a true masterpiece. The finished painting, which Roberts dubbed “the history of the cosmos,” immediately caught people’s attention for its vibrant design.
Janis used the car as her daily driver since she loved it so much, and as a result, it gained a lot of notoriety in the San Francisco, California, region. Every time she traveled anywhere, she’d find messages and notes left beneath her windshield wipers by her supporters who knew it was her car. Given how well-known the car was, it came as a surprise when someone attempted to steal it in 1969 and tried to disguise it by covering the kaleidoscopic hues with paint. Unfortunately, before they could finish painting the car, the police found it.
Amazingly, they were able to save the original artwork by removing the paint from the clear coat with a little assistance from a body shop. The vehicle was used by Janis Joplin’s manager Albert Grossman as a courtesy vehicle after her passing in 1970. After some time, the car started to have cosmetic and mechanical problems, so Janis’s brother Michael Joplin took it. He was able to return this car to its original state while also giving it a nice gray paint job.
The rock star’s Porsche wasn’t fully restored until the 1990s, thanks to Michael and Laura Joplin, the rock star’s siblings. To accurately recreate the original artwork, they hired the skillful artists Jana Mitchell and Amber Owen, and they completed the task to a flawless standard. The vehicle was lent to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in 1995 so that everyone could view it in person. However, the “Driven by Disruption” sale in New York City in 2015 saw the sale of Janis Joplin’s psychedelic Porsche. It was the highest selling Porsche 356 at a public auction, selling for an astounding $1.76 million.
Although the purchaser was anonymous, it is believed that a 60-year-old woman received the car as a birthday gift.
It’s amazing that this car in immaculate shape now belongs to some lucky fan as a tribute to Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, who enjoyed enormous popularity over the years. It’ll be handled carefully, I’m sure of it!
What person now owns Janis Joplin’s Porsche?
It was anticipated that the car will sell for between $400,000 and $600,000. A 10% commission for the auction house RM Sotheby’s is included in the transaction price.
In 1968, Joplin purchased the Porsche. She commissioned a mural that featured landscapes, birds, butterflies, floating eyes, mushrooms, and skull-like faces painted from bumper to bumper and door to door.
Typically, celebrity ownership doesn’t increase a car’s value significantly. However, this one sold for far more than it normally would have. In actuality, this was the highest amount ever paid at auction for a Porsche 356.
According to Hagerty Insurance, which protects classic automobiles, the previous record was $1.5 million, paid for a 1956 Porsche 356A GS Carrera Speedster in August 2013. That extremely rare and sought-after sports automobile had a racing background, was said to have only 20,000 kilometers on it, and had undergone a painstaking restoration. The highest auction price for a 1964 Porsche 356 SC Cabriolet, like Joplin’s, was $341,000 prior to this sale, a record achieved in May of last year.
These records were beaten by Joplin’s automobile since it was so closely associated with her. She put a lot of miles on it. Her messages from admirers were hidden under the windshield wipers.
Because the Porsche was parked in the garage on the day she passed away in 1970 at the age of 27, in a Hollywood hotel, everyone knew where to look for her.
Her siblings Michael and Laura Joplin received ownership of the vehicle, and they shared it for roughly 30 years. They had it painted over in light gray when the paint eventually began to flake.
On the underside of the gasoline filler door, a monstrous face that was originally part of the design was left unfinished.
Later, they had additional artists reconstruct the original artwork using original pictures. But this time, they utilized long-lasting paint.
The 95-horsepower sports automobile owned by Joplin is still in excellent operational condition today. It delivered all the sounds, joy, and direct feel of a superb classic Porsche during a trip through a New Jersey park.
The Porsche was lent by Michael and Laura Joplin to the Cleveland Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in 1995. For the past 20 years, it has largely stayed there.
The Joplins intend to donate the auction’s proceeds to charitable causes in Janis’ honor.
When did Janis Joplin buy a Porsche?
Janis is also not an exception. The famed blues and rock singer is shown driving a vibrant 1964 Porsche 356 SC, possibly one of the most well-known vehicles of the Swinging Sixties, while her hair is blowing in the wind as she loves life and its freedoms.
What became to the Porsche 356 owned by Janis Joplin?
The most expensive Porsche 356 ever sold at auction was Janis Joplin’s 1964 Porsche.
According to CNNMoney, the car, which was painted bumper to bumper with psychedelic imagery by Joplin’s friend Dave Richards, fetched $1.76 million at an auction on Thursday night, more than three times what Sotheby’s had estimated.
In general, celebrity ownership doesn’t do much to increase a car’s value, but Joplin’s Porsche was an exception because the counterculture icon drove the automobile to the point that it became associated with her name. In a brief statement posted on the Sotheby’s website, Janis Joplin’s sister and biographer Laura Joplin stated that Joplin “drove everywhere, all through San Francisco and down to Los Angeles when she was recording there.” “Fans could see Janis’ automobile wherever she went. There was always at least one note behind the wipers when she parked it and came back.”
Despite the fact that Joplin purchased the Porsche used almost 50 years ago, the paint job has since been repaired, and it is in good driving condition. After Joplin passed away, Michael and Laura Joplin received the automobile as her inheritance. According to CNNMoney, they are currently selling it to raise money for charitable organizations in Joplin’s honor.
Where is the psychedelic Porsche of Janis Joplin?
Actually, in 1968 Janis acquired her own 1964 Porsche 356 secondhand. Then she had Dave Richards, her roadie, paint it for her. He painted it gray first, then added a coat of candy apple red over that.
He then really went all out. He painted a mural of “The History of the Universe” on the entire vehicle, from bumper to bumper and door to door. Although it’s a little challenging to make out the narrative, there are landscapes, birds, beautiful butterflies, floating eyeballs, mushrooms, and faces that resemble skulls.
The vehicle will be auctioned off in New York City on Thursday, December 10. It is expected to sell for between $400,000 and $600,000 at auction, which is far more than what a vehicle of its type would typically fetch.
But it’s evident that this car is significantly different. Normally, a car’s worth isn’t significantly increased by celebrity ownership. (Actor and racer Steve McQueen is the one dependable exception to that rule.) But typically, a celebrity’s car was only one of many, and perhaps not one that the famous person in question drove frequently.
With this Porsche, not so. Janis Joplin frequently traveled in this vehicle. People recognized this car’s owner as soon as they saw it. Her messages from admirers were hidden under the windshield wipers.
Because this car was parked in the garage of the Hollywood, California, hotel where she had died at the age of just 27, the persons who were looking for her on the day of her death in 1970 knew where to locate her. After she passed away, Michael and Laura Joplin, her siblings, received ownership of the vehicle, and they shared use of it for roughly 30 years. They had it painted over in light gray after the paint began to crumble and come off in chunks after some time.
Later, they had other painters recreate the artwork that their sister Janis had painted on the car using the original images. But this time, they used long-lasting paints to finish the job.
The 95 horsepower sports automobile owned by Joplin is still in excellent operational condition today. It offered all the sounds and a pleasant, direct feel of a superb original Porsche while driving through a park in New Jersey.
The Porsche was lent by Michael and Laura Joplin to the Cleveland Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in 1995. For the past 20 years, it has largely stayed there. The Joplins intend to donate the car’s sale revenues to charitable causes in Janis’ honor.