Janis Joplin’s Psychedelic Porsche 356 Goes Under The Hammer

In October of 1970, a mere three days before she died, Janis Joplin famously sang, “Oh, Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes-Benz.” But don’t be fooled. Years earlier she demonstrated where her automotive allegiances were by letting rock-and-roll fame buy her a Porsche.

Joplin’s iconic and wildly psychedelic 1964 Porsche 356C 1600 SC Cabriolet, which for the last 20 years has greeted visitors to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, is ready to head to a new home.

The blues singer’s younger brother and sister, Michael and Laura, have put the car on the block as part of RM Sotheby’s December 10 auction in New York, one of 30 not-the-norm automobiles—including a rakish 2006 Lamborghini Concept S—that meet the event’s “Driven by Disruption” theme.

“This Porsche fits in perfectly with the auction because of its tremendous impact on popular culture,” says RM Sotheby’s Ian Kelleher, who recalls first seeing the car while a college student, shortly after it arrived at the rock shrine in Ohio. “The paint job on that car really describes the time and place it lived in.”

One of the most famous photos of the Porsche and its diminutive driver was taken by the still-existing Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, the city Joplin called home after her upbringing in Port Arthur, Texas.

In it, Joplin is cloaked in classic ‘60s finery, including a fur coat and purple pants, and is sitting cross-legged on the hood of the 356C Cab, arms outstretched. The world truly was Joplin’s oyster at the time she purchased the used Porsche in 1968, with her unique and soulful croon having taken her from singer for Big Brother and the Holding Company to a star in her own right.

What’s most distinctive about the photograph is the Porsche’s paint. Joplin felt the car’s original white was a too demure for her tastes, and asked a Big Brother roadie, Dave Richards, to create a mural on the vehicle. Richards has described the result—which features butterflies, jellyfish and Joplin with her band—as “The History of the Universe.”

Kelleher says the auction house is anticipating a sale price of $400,000 for the little roadster. Air-cooled Porsches in general have been skyrocketing in value, with even some late-model 911s (993) doubling over the past year.

That said, this particular 356 model is more typically a modest six-figure car, with online hunts and a Hagerty Insurance estimate finding prices closer to $150,000. This nearly triple-the-norm sum for Joplin’s baby speaks to a number of factors.

“First of all, we are seeing tremendous interest in this car from people who have maybe one or two cars, but are very big into collecting things from the art and music worlds, people who have literally said to me, ‘I can’t believe this car is for sale,’” says Kelleher.

Another lure is the rare fact that the car was owned and driven by a legendary woman.