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Museum exhibit: Cars of rock-n-roll
Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles features cars owned, driven by and traded in by rock stars.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Cars have a long history in rock music. Ike Turner's 1951 tune "Rocket 88" -- arguably the first rock hit -- was about a high-horsepower Oldsmobile. Unfortunately, cars mentioned in rock-and-roll lyrics rarely correspond to an actual car that one could, say, put on display in a museum. There is no "Little Red Corvette" to go with the Prince song. Ike Turner reportedly never owned, or even drove, an Olds Rocket 88.
So, for the "Cars and guitars of rock-and-roll" exhibit opening Saturday at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, curators selected cars that have been owned by rock music celebrities, like a DeTomaso Pantera owned and shot full of holes by Elvis Presley. "We didn't want to have cars in the show that just reflected the artist's wealth," said curator Bob Merlis. To be selected for the exhibit, a car had to tell a story or, at least, be an interesting automobile in and of itself, like the 1948 Delahaye once owned by Elton John, Merlis said. This is the second time the museum has put on a show by this name. The first was in 2001, but only a few of the same cars are being exhibited again this time around, said Merlis. The museum will also be showing cars featured in rock videos and cars driven in movies by, given away in contests by, and otherwise associated with various rock musicians and bands. Cars in the exhibit include the KISSKat, a customized Plymouth Prowler given away in 1998 by the band Kiss to promote a new album, and a customized 1965 Ford Mustang driven by Nancy Sinatra in the movie "Marriage on the Rocks." Few of the cars in the exhibit are in factory-original form. Most are heavily customized. The golf cart driven by Snoop Dogg in a commercial for Chrysler will also appear in the show. ZZ Top lead singer and guitarist Billy Gibbons served as "creative consultant" to the exhibit which features some vehicles from his personal collection. Those are the CadZZilla, a customized low-riding Cadillac, the HogZZilla, a customized Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and the SlamPala, a customized 1962 Chevrolet Impala. The exhibit opens February 4, 2006, and runs through June 4. |
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