Went to a restaurant in Mount Airy, NC tonight called the Thirsty Soul (in an old mortuary) and they have a Beck replica of Janis Joplin’s 356. Too much for me but still pretty cool!
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Always like the artsy paintwork. Pretty close but hers was a '64 Cabriolet - not a speedster. So her's had a taller windshield and top --- and wind-up windows with vent wings. Wish I could get mine wrapped like that! A couple beers and it could easily pass. Seems like a cool place.
Have I posted the story about going in to Storz Porsche in Denver to buy some 912 bits and it was there? Apparently her sister, who lives in Boulder, brought it to Bob to get it running before they put it in the R&R HoF in Cleveland. It was kind of weird checking it out.
AFAIK, the one that’s there now is also a replica and the original was sold off.
I saw a copy of the Janis Joplin car at Special Edition last summer and they were converting it to EV power. Carey hired a Tesla repairman to do the EV conversion and they use a lot if not all Tesla parts. It was cool. So, there must by a few of the Speedsters running around with this paint scheme.
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Now that is a proper cabriolet copy - sans the zoom-zoom. Would have to turn the stereo up on "Me and Bobby McGee".
Her's started out dolphin grey (not red). "Mercedes Benz" was written 2 years after she started driving the 356.
The Porsche was adorned with pictures of Big Brother and the Holding Company, California, landscapes, Joplin's Zodiac (Capricorn), and the Eye of God.
Read More: https://www.grunge.com/128712/...gic-real-life-story/
How hard would it be to create a vinyl wrap of it? Even plain wraps seem to approach custom paint jobs. If you were to paint one - would you use handpainted acrylic paints covered with clear? or an air brush? Just curious.
I had nothing to do with the speedster rep at the top of the page, but did do the C cab rep Jim posted. We hired a local artist and over about 8 months hand painted the entire car (brush, sponge and a little air brush) to copy the original 60s photos as closely as possible. The original car was restored in CO (Denver School of Art from memory) several years ago, and they took several liberties, and we wanted to stay as true to the 60s version as possible. And yes it was all EV as well.
I came across the original on the lawn at Schenley Park several years ago. Very cool car.
Read another write-up that her car was originally Oyster White but that when it was stolen it was painted the grey. Once recovered the grey was removed leaving most of the painting intact. One article said it was a '64 and another a '65 (perhaps built in late '64 as a '65?)
Even the original was painted grey and then later the car and artwork was repainted in the 1990s
From the link above:
“After a while, the vehicle began to exhibit cosmetic and mechanical issues, so it was taken by Janis's brother, Michael Joplin. He managed to restore this car back to original condition, but he also repainted it to a solid gray color.
“It wasn't until the 1990s that Joplin's siblings, Michael and Laura Joplin, finally brought the rock star's Porsche back to its former glory. They contacted talented artists Amber Owen and Jana Mitchell to properly replicate the original artwork, and they did a flawless job once it was finished. In '95, the car was loaned to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum for all to see in person.”
So that means I saw it at Storz post-repaint. I lived in Denver 91-96. I don’t remember exactly when I saw it. It’s funny, in the fog of memory, I remember 60’s patina on the paint. Obviously not if that timeline is correct.