The Queen of Rock singer Janis Joplin’s classic Porsche has sold at auction for $1.76 Million, setting a new world record. Hit the jump for the story and photos of the psychedelically painted car.
When Joplin bought (stole) the car in 1968, she never thought it would one day be worth close to 2 million dollars…or did she? The car was originally projected to auction off for somewhere in between the $400,000 and $600,000 range – but well exceeded expectations.
The car sold for $1.76 Million, trumping the previous record paid for an auctioned 356 Porsche, at $1.5 million for a 1956 Porsche 356A GS Carrera Speedster in August 2013.
But!…for a 1964 Porsche 356 SC Cabriolet just like Joplin’s, the top auction price was $341,000 – a record set in May 2014.
Where as celebrity ownership does not add much value to a car, the reason why Joplin’s sold so high was due to the fact that she was so easily identifiable by the car. If you wanted to find Janis, you find the psychedelia mobile – fans would leave notes for her under her windshield wipers.
On the day she unfortunately joined the 27 club, people knew exactly where to look for her missing person because they saw her car parked in a Hollywood hotel garage.
The car boasts a colorful paint job from bumper to bumper and door to door, in a mural which includes landscapes, birds, butterflies, floating eyes, mushrooms and skull-like faces. One part of the original work has a monstrous face under the gas cap – pretty sick.
After Janis’ untimely death, the car went to her siblings, Michael and Laura Joplin, who shared it for about 30 years. Over the years the paint had started to flake so they had it painted over in a light gray hue. Other artists than reworked the original imagery from previous photos taken.
The 95 horsepower car remains in strong running condition and has been housed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland for the past 20 years, prior to being sold at auction.
Janis’ surviving family plans to use the money from the auction to support social programs in Janis’ name and memory.
