“Janis Joplin’s 356C is without question one of the most important Porsches of all time”, said Ian Kelleher, managing director of RM Sotheby’s West Coast Division, when he announced the auto was going up for auction.
Advertisement
The gas produced by hog manure at farms across the USA punches holes in the ozone layer, overheats the planet, and angers neighbors with its peculiar odor, a mix of rotten egg and ammonia.
The most recent work performed on the car was a mechanical restoration done by RM Auto Restoration which brought the car back to running condition, with RM Sotheby’s publishing a $400,000 to $600,000 estimate range for the car. After she was gone, ownership of the vehicle went to her siblings, Michael and Laura Joplin who shared the use of it for about 30 years. At least, he was the one who piloted the 1956 Ferrari 290 MM to a fourth place finish in the 1956 Mille Miglia. It has by no means crashed regardless of a racing profession that lasted till 1964.
Also included in the “Driven By Distruption” auction was a 1962 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato, which was sold for th highest price ever paid for a British vehicle during an auction, a hefty $14.3 million. A Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta sold for US$38.1 million at Bonhams in 2014. Richards replaced the car’s gray base coat with a vibrant Candy Apple Red paint and added portraits of Joplin’s band, Big Brother and the Holding Company, along with depictions of the California hills, the “Eye of God”, and the capricorn astrological sign.
Advertisement
“On the day she died in 1970 at age 27, in a Hollywood hotel, people knew where to find her because the Porsche was parked in the garage”. As recently reported, the coupe was estimated to sell for about $500,000 yet with 7 prospective buyers contending far surpassed those expectations. It seats two small passengers and features a wooden steering wheel, leather upholstery and working lights.
