Photo: AFP
Janis Joplin’s one-of-a-kind Porsche 356C 1600 Cabriolet has just been sold in a 5-minute bidding war for a record $1.8 million in RM Sotheby’s “Driven by Disruption” auction in New York.
Before the auction took place, the estimated price for this piece of art was $600,000, but in only five minutes, the car doubled its price. The Porsche has never left Joplin’s family since 1964, when it was initially bought.
In a packed room in New York, the bidding started off at $300,000, and when it reached the staggering price of $1.76 million, a great roar of applause broke out.
Although Janis Joplin sang a song in which Mercedes’ name appears, she opted for this originally white Porsche356C Cabriolet. Because she considered the color to be drab, she had it painted red with a mural that included a series of custom elements, like butterflies and jellyfish, and even images of Joplin and her band, according to AFP, as quoted by Yahoo Mail.
When Joplin died from an overdose in 1970, the car was parked outside the Hollywood hotel in which the singer passed. The car has remained in her family’s possession ever since. In 1995, it was lent to the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, until the Joplin family made the decision to part with it and sell it.
According to Ian Kelleher, managing director of RM Sotheby’s West Coast Division, Janis Joplin’s 356C is considered to be one of the most important Porsches of all time, and, as everyone initially expected, it was one of the star lots in “Driven by Disruption.”
Porsche started the production of the 356 in 1948, in Austria, and after the factory moved to Germany, the model continued to be built until 1965. Of the 76,000 units originally produced, approximately half still survive.
The last revision of the 356 was the 356C, introduced in 1964. Some of the new features included disc brakes, as well as the most powerful engine Porsche had ever produced until then, the 95 horsepower overhead valve “SC” power unit.
In a packed room in New York, the bidding started off at $300,000, and when it reached the staggering price of $1.76 million, a great roar of applause broke out.
Although Janis Joplin sang a song in which Mercedes’ name appears, she opted for this originally white Porsche356C Cabriolet. Because she considered the color to be drab, she had it painted red with a mural that included a series of custom elements, like butterflies and jellyfish, and even images of Joplin and her band, according to AFP, as quoted by Yahoo Mail.
When Joplin died from an overdose in 1970, the car was parked outside the Hollywood hotel in which the singer passed. The car has remained in her family’s possession ever since. In 1995, it was lent to the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, until the Joplin family made the decision to part with it and sell it.
According to Ian Kelleher, managing director of RM Sotheby’s West Coast Division, Janis Joplin’s 356C is considered to be one of the most important Porsches of all time, and, as everyone initially expected, it was one of the star lots in “Driven by Disruption.”
Porsche started the production of the 356 in 1948, in Austria, and after the factory moved to Germany, the model continued to be built until 1965. Of the 76,000 units originally produced, approximately half still survive.
The last revision of the 356 was the 356C, introduced in 1964. Some of the new features included disc brakes, as well as the most powerful engine Porsche had ever produced until then, the 95 horsepower overhead valve “SC” power unit.
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