Janis Joplin was known for many things: that unmistakable voice, those round glasses, that hair ... and that car. Joplin's signature Porsche, a wildly painted 1964 356C Cabriolet, fetched $1.76 million at auction Thursday by RM Sotheby's in New York.
The Texas-born rock icon bought the car in 1968 and and had a friend, who was a roadie for her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, customize the paint job. The car's trippy mural includes her astrological sign (Capricorn), a scene of northern California and members of her band. Joplin drove the car regularly until her death in 1970.
The car was expected to bring no more than $600,000. After Joplin's death, it went to her sister Laura and brother Michael, who had owned it since. They eventually painted over the mural because it was fading and flaking.
"We needed to save the car," Michael told CNNMoney.
The entire vehicle was meticulously restored in the early 1990s, and in 1995 Joplin's siblings loaned it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, where it stayed until the auction. According to CNNMoney, Joplin's family plans use the proceeds from the auction to support social programs in their sister's memory.
Staff and AP reports
