Miguel Sánchez
CUSTOM JAMES HETFIELD PHOTOS: PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM
Give me gasoline / give me fire / give me what I want… I keep burning / the fuel pumps the engines / burning at maximum, loose and clean / and I keep burning / focusing in my direction / quenching my thirst with gasoline… Give me gasoline / give me fire / give me what I want. With the angry voice of James Hetfield and a forceful drum beat of Lars Ulrich explodes Fuel, Reload's first cut, released in 1997 to be the seventh studio album in Metallica's career.
A fireproof band that has overcome multiple addictions. Intestinal clashes. The death of their first bassist Cliff Burton in a tour bus accident. Abrupt style changes… And all this thanks to a legion of fans full of faith in the Metallica sound. And is that these guys, every time they mess something up to disappoint you they record some wonder to dazzle you again. To believe that, as Neil Young said, R&R can never die / there's more to the picture / than meets the eye.
As good offshoots of the broad American Rock, the Metallica have the world of motorsport within their references. In the end, the symbol of the lonely road and the galloping car have been present in the country's countercultural imaginary since the times when Neal cassady he worked as a pro beatnik. A thread with the smell of gasoline that runs through the discography of Bruce Springsteen, The Beach Boys or Bob Dylan.
Of all the members of Metallica, the one who has taken all this further has been their vocalist, James Hetfield. A fan of the custom and hot road so typical of the America of the 50 and his seminal R&R, which this year has donated ten of his vehicles for a special exhibition in the Petersen Automotive Museum.
CUSTOM. CUSTOMIZATION AS AN AMERICAN SIGN
At this point little can be added of custom culture that hasn't been said before. However, there will always be something that will catch our attention about all this: your big difference from European car culture. While small trainers like Carlo Abarth flourished in the Old Continent, in the New World customizers did. In short, while here young people were eager to turn their cars into the sportiest cars possible (with the exception of the tuning)… There it was just the opposite.
No worries about weight, steering feel, or suspension stiffness. All the attention was taken by the bodies, which tended more and more to shapes as striking as they were not very effective on a curved path. In short, a customization that has much more to do with suburban bragging than with driving performance. However, it must be recognized that in the world of custom real references have been created in terms of design.
The exhibition organized by the Petersen Automotive Museum -whose facade seems to apply the principles of custom to architecture- gathers 10 of these references belonging to James Hetfield. Among them we can admire unique pieces such as Aquarius; an excellent design exercise that pays homage to Figoni / Falaschi and their designs "water drop" from the 30s. Of course, sharing space with the daring slow burn, made on a 1936 Auburn.
THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN: JAGUAR PERLA NEGRA
Since in the custom what prevails is aesthetics, and assuming that this is by definition subjective, it is difficult to know which of these ten vehicles is the most important. However, the truth is that the Jaguar Mk 4 Black Pearl he takes all eyes on the street, especially since he won the award Custom of the Year in 2014. A masterpiece half devised between Hetfield and American bodybuilder Rick Dore.
On the basis of this Jaguar a custom design more measured than normal comes together. Respectfully reinterpreting some of the most elegant forms of classic European design. Yes indeed, of the English that served as the basis for the Black Pearl and there is little leftWell, under the hood now houses a 302CV Ford 375 cu engine to which an automatic transmission is coupled.
And this is what custom culture is based on: creating a totally unique and personalized car. Something that from 2019 visitors to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles will be able to understand live thanks to the collection donated by James Hetfeid. Ten representative models of the most exclusive custom that are already part of this museum of reference for world motorsport.
