Let’s get one thing straight: there’s never been a guitarist like Jimi Hendrix. Sure, the evolution of rock music has developed better guitarists, but Jimi changed the rules of rock, and he was the whole package besides − writing, producing, and being a genuine gentleman. But with all that money and adulation, didn’t he own a cool car or two back when cars and music were at their coolest?
Seems like he did. While possibly never having a driver’s license, he and bassist Noel Redding (he himself a guitarist who would later form Fat Mattress) were in Cleveland and decided to shop for a car. Jimi picked up an International Blue 1968 Corvette from Blaushild Chevrolet. However, according to reports from those around him, Jimi wasn’t the best driver and crashed the Vette. According to drummer Mitch Mitchell:
One Saturday night we went to see Cream and had a party back at the house. The party didn’t break up until 5 am and at 7 am I got to sleep. I’d heard Jimi’s voice, ‘Guess what, I’ve just crashed my car.’ I thought I’d dreamed that and went back to sleep. Several hours later, I discovered that it was true.
After the insurance company processed the claim, Jimi bought another Corvette, this time a Cortez Silver ’69. However, no one knows what happened to this car other than it may have been sold to pay expenses as part of his estate after his death in 1970.
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OK, here’s the thing: I met Jimi in his Corvette at the corner of 8th St. just this side of the “Cooper Square Cube”, in the summer of 1970. When I saw it, iit had been repainted a particularly nice shade of Candy Metallic Green, so anyone looking for this car in silver -good luck. The only reason I went over to look at it (at the stoplight) was the paint job -damn few custom painted cars in Manhattan in 1970. He rolled the window down (Devon Wilson was in the passenger seat) and we had a nice conversation about “the new album” (?) he was working on, this “new festival” he was getting ready to play “Isle of Wight, man, you ought to come over” – yeah, sure, on my pay from General Motors – and how this “studio thing” (Electric Ladyland, just two blocks away) was changing his music. I had callled my then-girlfriend/now wife over, and she was tapping me on the shoulder -apparently we had talked through three lighht changes. He said “See you, man” and drove off. So if anyone finds a car they think is this one (I believe it was a small block automatic), look for Candy Green paint…
Well, it is possible, I suppose, that Hendrix had that car repainted again, but he only ever mentioned that his car had been painted a silver, metal-flake color, in Spring of 69…Also, the car, as remembered by his friend Jeff Beck, was a big-block automatic, with no power steering, or air!!…It was also a 427….strange combo, right?…Here is something else weird…the guy who bought it at auction, eventually found a cassette tape, recorded by Hendrix!!…he played it several times, before he realized it could be valuable…A friend of his eventually bootlegged the tape!…the car itself was eventually sold again, and is lost to history.
Actually, the 2nd Vette was a big block 427, an automatic with no power steering!…It had a cassette player…The car was sold off by his estate…they guy who bought it, said that he found an old cassette of studio out-takes that he played for some time, not realising at first, that it was a Hendrix tape!…and he gave the tape to some mechanic friend of his, in exchange for doing a little work on the car!…anyway, he eventually sold it, and has no idea who wound up with it…however, there is some alternate info as to what actually happened to that car…but not really well-documented…the gist of the info is that the car was wrecked by someone, and wound up in a wrecking yard, where the 427 engine was removed, and the car was eventually crushed…as I said, this cannot be proven…and what was said here, about Jimi repainting his car a 2nd time, to a green color, is something new to me…most folks just remember the metal-flake silver that he had done….at this point, we can just say “whatever”.
Time has gone by, Norman…Your story is interesting…but we need a believable photo of his “green” Vette….Some other dude has said that Hendrix had four Vettes!….nope, just two, and both of those have been photographed, and the very first one, the Blue one, can be seen being driven by Hendrix, probably the very afternoon, before he smashed it up on the 20th of Oct, 1968!….After studying most every aspect of Jimi Hendrix for around 50 years, I have come to the conclusion that someone besides you–like one of his friends–would have mentioned that final, green paint job…both of those cars have been mentioned by people who were hanging around Hendrix,
Well…for those interested…take a look at an interview of Jeff Beck (guitar God), on a youtube video of a show called “Car Crazy”. During the interview, Mr. Beck says that Hendrix and he were riding around NYC in a 427 Corvette…and he states that the car was a Goodwood Green in color!…so I gotta take Jeff Beck’s word about Jimi owning a green Vette!…Hendrix must have repainted his 1969 Vette, maybe not long before he died in September of 1970….It has been established that Jimi owned only TWO Corvettes…that means that he had the 2nd one repainted-twice!-….In a way, it makes sense, as Hendrix was a very impulsive. highly creative dude. who admitted to getting bored very easily….Jeff Beck is a very dedicated “Hot-rodder” guy, who modifies those types of vehicles–so this is a revelation that I believe, about Jimi owning a green Vette….I now believe you, Norman…sorry I was skeptical about your story. but there is a lotta BS about Hendrix out there!
Guess what?…There is an interview on youtube, wherein Jeff Beck, the great guitarist, mentions that he rode a few times with Hendrix–in a green Vette!…Beck is a car nut–I believe him, find the interview in a car program called “Car Crazy!”,,,Beck only mentions Hendrix for maybe a minute, about half-way through Part One of the interview…I wish he had talked more about Hendrix!…Jimi must have repainted the car a final time, most likely in early 1970…People who knew Hendrix say that he was easily bored, maybe OCD, and so I guess his repainting that 2nd car twice is not so weird after all…I have never seen a photo of Hendrix in a green Vette–but there is a “painting/portrait” of Hendrix, seen sitting in a dark green Vette, with the driver door open, and a guitar leaning against the open door–you can see it on Pinterest.
Jimi was, is and will always be an Angel
They do not need a motor car to get about!
Thank you gentlemen…for your shared experiences and research on, Mr Hendrix’s automotive interest. I have a 2000 corvette roadster, had no idea my guitar hero was into vette’s. Saw him perform back in ‘68 – Oakland, CA.
Currently trying to finish reading: Sharon Lawrence’s Book – Jimi Hendrix. Chapter Eleven: Purple Haze, P195. “ I showed him my new car, and he said, ‘Man, that’s a nice car!’ He told me about his white Corvette….” Thus far…I agree his first car, was the blue ‘68 Vette and his second being the silver ‘69 Vette. The latter being repainted green. Was there a white Vette too…as well?
Mike
My father drove Jimi Hendrix (and recently co-authored a book, “Head Trips”. ) He babysat Hendrix’ silver corvette and took me for a ride in it when I was a young boy in Astoria, NY.
From 1968 through 1970 my father was a bartender at a place called The Dugout on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. Right next to his bar was a historic music club called The Bitter End. My father was friends with a lot of the musicians who performed there and then hung out at The Dugout.
When I was pretty young around that era, my father told me that Jimi was once leaning against his car, I assume one of the Corvettes, which was parked in front of the bar in a No Standing zone. Some NYPD cops came along and told Jimi to move his car. Hendrix refused and just leaned against it. The cops, totally unaware of who he was, started getting furious and were about to put a hurting on Hendrix. My father at the bar saw what was about to happen. He ran out and told the cops this was the wrong black guy to start beating up. I assume the cops knew my father so they backed down and never got physical with Jimi. Would anyone possibly know anything about this incident? I’m not even sure of the year let alone the month when this happened. It was most likely 1970 as I would have been nine years old and more likely to be told this story at that age rather than years earlier.