Metallica’s James Hetfield Brings Heavy Metal to the Petersen Automotive Museum

Google World’s Largest Concerts and likely as not, Metallica will come up in the top five with 1.6 million people attending Monsters of Rock at Tushino Airfield, Moscow in 1991. The images from that concert are staggering and they form a juxtapositional backdrop to ‘Reclaimed Rust: The James Hetfield Collection’ a new exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles, CA, featuring the cars of Metallica front man James Hetfield.

“I believe everyone needs or deserves a second chance or a third chance or a fourth chance. So knock the rust off and continue the story.”James Hetfield, Metallica

Prior to the opening, there was a fireside chat with Hetfield who talked candidly about his love of automobiles, and custom cars in particular. Hetfield was born in Downey, California in 1963, which at the time was the epicenter of the custom car culture saying about the exhibit, “It’s historic for me; as do our albums, these cars mark my life for the past 14 years and it’s great. I love that they are staying together and that youngsters will be inspired by them.” When asked what was behind the name of the exhibit, ‘Reclaimed Rust’ Hetfield said, “I believe everyone needs or deserves a second chance or a third chance or a fourth chance. So knock the rust off and continue the story.”

StateofSpeed was invited to the Media/VIP preview but we first encountered James’ amazing cars at the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Duke of Richmond had invited a number of rock stars to display their cars including Hetfield’s 1936 Auburn Speedster ‘Slow Burn’.

Unfortunately, some typical shipping damage put a slight damper on the proceedings but the Auburn, built by long time Hetfield collaborator Rick Dore Kustoms, showed well alongside Billy F Gibbons’ CadZZilla and Jimmie Vaughan’s ’61 Cadillac.

Indeed, five of the 10 vehicles on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum were collaborations between Dore and Hetfield and they included a 1934 Packard-based custom ‘Aquarius’ and an unrecognizable 1948 Jaguar named ‘Black Pearl’.

Both these cars and particularly the Packard lean heavily on European styling of the thirties, specifically the French designs of Delahaye and coachbuilder Figoni et Falaschi. Both cars feature swooping, sensual hand-formed one-off aluminum bodies by Marcel’s Custom Metal, Corona, CA.

The other collaborations with Dore include the centerpiece of the exhibit, a 1953 Buick Skylark ‘Skyscraper’ that features, as do some of the other customs, what appears to be a solid but lift-off convertible top. These tops, created in the 1940s are known as Carson Tops, after the Carson Top Shop in Los Angeles that first developed them.

While not as outwardly radical as some of the other collaborations, the 1937 Lincoln ‘Voodoo Priest’ features more subtle modifications below the stunning Candy Apple Red paint by Darryl Hollenbeck, Concord, CA., including a fully hot rodded Lincoln V-12 by HandHFlatheads. The engine breaths through three classic Stromberg 97 carbs and note the one-piece curved windshield by Timo Tanskannen of Finland.

Not all the cars in the exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum are radical customs, some are more hot rod than custom. For example, ‘Iron Fist’ is a tough-looking bare metal, chopped ’36 Ford 5-window coupe that has no paint but attitude a-plenty.  Built by Scott Mugford’s Blue Collar Customs of Sacramento, CA., the ‘Fist’ is powered by a small-block Chevy V-8 and protected by a coat of clear by Darryl Hollenbeck.

Also completed by Blue Collar Customs is Hetfield’s ’56 Ford F-100 pickup known as ‘Str8 Edge’. Powered by a 455 cubic inch Oldsmobile engine, the ‘Edge’ features a 5-window, extended cab with a 2-1/4-inch top chop, a side-opening hood and a ’60-’61 Chrysler grille with Thunderbird trim. The wild paint was handled by Jason Haskin.

The other late-thirties custom in the collection is the 1937 Ford ‘Crimson Ghost’. More of a custom than a rod, the pan-draggin’ ‘Ghost’ is different because of its pillar less door opening and sweeping roofline that flows seamlessly down into the decklid.

The only real hot rod in the show is a quintessential ’32 Ford Roadster tagged ‘Black Jack’. Built in the traditional style by Josh Mills of Marietta, GA., it’s an original, all-steel 1932 Ford with no parts newer than 1949 on the entire car.

The rod, which is actually brown rather than black, appeared in the 2017 Grand National Roadster Show but did not win the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster Award. Instead, that went to Bruce Wanta’s Packard built by Troy Ladd’s Hollywood Hot Rods. As do some of the customs ‘Black Jack’ features a padded, lift-off Carson-style top and a flathead Ford V-8 under the hood.

‘Reclaimed Rust’ is a worthwhile exhibit especially if you are a fan of Hetfield and customs spelt with a ‘K.’

No doubt a little tongue in cheek, the final car on the roster was the 1963 Lincoln ‘Dead Kennedy’. Painted satin black and looking a little road worn, the side-piped Lincoln with shaved door handles was perhaps the black sheep of the show and did not express the workmanship of the other cars on display.

‘Reclaimed Rust’ is a worthwhile exhibit especially if you are a fan of Hetfield and customs spelt with a ‘K.’ Incidentally, all of the vehicles on display were donated by Hetfield to the Petersen Automotive Museum and the ‘Reclaimed Rust’ exhibit, sponsored by ESP Guitar Company, will run through October 2020. For more information visit Petersen.org.

Never Lift: Bruce Meyer’s Car Collection

Not to be confused with Bruce Meyers, the inventor of the Dune Buggy, Bruce Meyer is a car collector extraordinaire and generally regarded as the man who first saw the historic value in old hot rods and began adding the right cars to his collection more than 30 years ago.

Housed in an anonymous brick building on Los Angeles’ west side, Bruce Meyer’s diverse collection is to die for and includes the first production Cobra CSX2001, the 1962 Greer, Black, Prudhomme Top Fuel dragster, the SO-CAL Speed Shop belly tank lakester, the Doane Spencer and Bob McGee Deuce Roadsters, the 1979 Le Mans-winning Kremer Porsche 935 K3 and several Ferraris. The list goes on.

Few but the fortunate get to see Bruce Meyer’s collection, and passers walking by have no idea what jewels are hidden behind those walls.

Housed in an anonymous brick building on Los Angeles’ west side, the diverse collection is to die for…

However, he is very accommodating when it comes to sharing his vehicles with others having taken them to shows and events all over the world from Goodwood to Pebble Beach. He is even a member of the exclusive Bonneville 200 MPH Club and even drove one of his roadsters at 204 mph.

As a ‘kick off’ to the Petersen Automotive Museum’s 25th Anniversary year-long celebrations, Bruce, who helped found the museum in 1994 with its namesake Robert E. Petersen, was asked to lend his cars to a very special display.

…passers walking by have no idea what jewels are hidden behind those walls.

Titled Winning Numbers: The First, The Fastest, The Famous, the newly opened exhibit features 10 of Bruce Meyer’s groundbreaking racecars:

Winning Numbers will be open until January 19, 2020, so you have plenty of time to visit. For more information, visit petersen.org

RADWood World Tour Invades the Petersen Museum

Showcasing the Best Automotive Collection of the ’80s and ’90s

Car critics often described the cars of the ’80s and ’90s as uncharacteristic vehicles that were often flashy, overdone, and lacking in horsepower. If we could voice our opinion, we’d have to disagree, knowing a number of iconic vehicles such as the Toyota Supra (MK3 and MK4), Porsche 959, BMW M3 (E30), Mazda RX-7, and Ferrari 550 Maranello, to name a few, continue to be in high demand today.

In celebrating cars in the ’80s and ’90s era, the first RADwood event was held in San Francisco back in ’17. The event’s name was derived from the popular Goodwood Revival Festival overseas. Brad Brownell, one of the show’s co-founders, teamed up with his friends to introduce this unique event while bringing back the lost era of cars.

The first event brought about 150 vehicles and received such positive feedback that the crew decided to continue the tradition and followed up with their second event, this time around in Los Angeles.

…the event felt like Marty McFly jumping into his DeLorean and taking a time warp back in time.

That was more than a year ago as this final year’s world tour show was held at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles with over 400 vehicles in the display.

RADwood’s popularity has quickly gone viral as onlookers and event followers have pleaded for the show to come to their hometown. RADwood spokesmen had informed us that there have been talks of expanding the event with additional dates including events in the UK and Japan next year.

From vintage muscle cars, commuter cars with custom pinstripes, to high-end supercars, the event felt like Marty McFly jumping into his DeLorean and taking a time warp back in time. Fashionistas were also on hand wearing bright colors clothing and women teasing their hairs with Aqua Net hairspray while wearing tight leggings.

A number of rare vehicles including a Vector W8 Twin Turbo were drawing crowds throughout the day. While the exterior of the vehicles look vintage by today’s standards, the 6.0-liter V8 sourced from General Motors performance was nothing to sneeze about, delivering 650-horsepower and 650-lb. ft. of torque.

Another vehicle you rarely see was this ’90s manufactured Bugatti EB110 with a 60-valve quad-turbocharged V12 engine that delivered over 560-hp with a top speed of 213-mph.

CMS Motorsports and Restorations brought out their Mercedes 500 SEC with custom gullwing doors. Sitting on top of their car was a briefcase with faux 100 dollar bills and a classic Motorola “brick” cell phone to complement their ’80s-themed car.

Sitting on top of their car was a briefcase with faux 100 dollar bills and a classic Motorola “brick” cell phone…

We’re not even going to ask what was going on with this Mustang and his jungle-themed murals!

If you’re looking to see some cool cars and have a groovy time, be sure to check out their website for upcoming tour schedules across the US and vehicle registration at: RADwood.co

The Vault

Originally opened in 1994, the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California recently underwent a $125 million makeover and reopened on December 7^th, 2015. The exterior of the building, an old Mid-Century department store, is stunningly wrapped in 100 tons of stainless steel ribbon but there is no obvious entrance. I guess they don’t expect you to miss it, located on the junction of Fairfax and Wilshire Boulevard in what is called The Miracle Mile section of Los Angeles.

Originally the brainchild of the late Robert E. Petersen, founder of HOT ROD Magazine and dozens of other publications, the “Pete” as it is affectionately known is, nevertheless, a world-class museum well worth a visit even if you are not a complete car nut.

Within the stainless shell, there are 300,000 sq. ft. divided into 25 galleries that house about 100 vehicles depending upon specific exhibits.

…well worth a visit even if you are not a complete car nut.

However, below the stunning, if controversial exterior, there is 60,000 sq. ft. containing another 250 or so vehicles in the Petersen Vault. Unfortunately, getting into the Vault is, as you might expect a bit like getting into, well, a vault.

At the time of our visit, the Vault was undergoing some refurbishment so some of the vehicles were in disarray. Usually, they are parked quite closely together. There are no ropes but you cannot take photographs and you are not allowed to wander away from the guide, but that is understandable as many of the cars are rare and quite valuable and not all are owned by the Petersen.

We got to see everything from an original Model T Ford to one-off concept cars to movie cars to celebrity-owned vehicles to a number of winners of America’s Most Beautiful Roadster Award.

Perhaps one of the most impressive cars is Mr. Petersen’s unique Art Deco ‘Round-Door’ Rolls Royce of 1925. It is the pinnacle of that era’s coach-built automobiles and in a way, the jewel in the crown of the Petersen. And right now, like many other cars, it can only be seen on the Vault tour.

…the jewel in the crown of the Petersen.

There are two types of guided vault tours and both carry a premium in addition to the cost of general museum admission which is $16 for an adult, $13 for seniors, and $8 for children 3-12. A 90-minute introductory tour is $23-25 extra and a 120-minute, so-called, world tour is an extra $30.

There are other rules too:

• Tickets are non-refundable and cannot be exchanged once the order is placed.
• NO children under 10 permitted on Vault Tours.
• NO backpacks, food, or drink allowed in the Vault.
• NO photography or video in the Vault.
• Online ticket sales close out on the morning of each date.
• Visitors must refrain from touching the vehicles and stay together with their guide during the tour.

Tours are not conducted every day so be sure to check the website and make your booking before turning up and don’t forget, parking is another $15: petersen.org/vault