Joplin, who was only 27 when she died of a drug overdose on Oct. 4, 1970, loved to sing, party and drive her favorite car (which wasn’t a Mercedes-Benz, by the way, even though she wrote a song about one). Like the woman herself, Joplin’s vehicle of choice was one of a kind: a multi-colored, hand-painted 1964 Porsche 356C cabriolet that will be offered to the public for the first time on Thursday, Dec. 10 at RM Sotheby’s “Driven to Disruption” auction in New York City. The auction house expects bidding on the car to surpass $400,000.“This is the most unique celebrity car I’ve ever been involved with,” said Ian Kelleher, car specialist and managing director of the company’s West Coast Division. “It’s different from most celebrity cars because it was female owned, and it was owned by such an iconic woman.“We make a big deal out of Frank Sinatra’s Jag or his Rolls-Royce, but how many other cars did he own? We make a big deal out of Elvis Presley’s cars, and his name is on what seems like 1,000 titles. People identify with Janis Joplin’s car because she drove it often, and she was photographed a lot driving it. People know the car. It was part of who she was. It was an extension of her personality, and I can’t think of a better car that defines that idea.”
