Some stars just don't mix well with cars. When you're a young musician and the career is taking off, loads of time is gobbled up doing performances, interviews and touring. Leisure time is scarce and that means little chance of indulging in toys like muscle cars. However, James Marshall Hendrix, known world wide as Jimi Hendrix, owned a few hot muscle cars. His first one was a 1968 Chevrolet Corvette.
It was 1968 and the Jimi Hendrix Experience band was on a tour of America promoting their second album; Axis- Bold As Love.They were in Cleveland, Ohio when Jimi and bass player, Noel Redding, went car shopping. Their publicist, Mike Goldstein, helped them by taking the band to the hot dealerships in the city. Drummer, Mitch Mitchell, recounted the story in his autobiography, The Hendrix Experience .
"This was the first time any of us had any money to spend, so Jimi ordered a Corvette Stingray and Noel ordered a Mercury Cougar which he never took delivery of." That Corvette was sent to somewhere in New York State where Jimi was. Leon Dicker, attorney for Yameta Corporation, Jimi's music publishing company, related the hilarious event of Jim's first ride."Jimi didn't have a driver's licence. He drove his vette down a one way street and was cited for that offence and not having a licence.The next day, he had to return to touring in Indiana so his car was shipped by Micheal Jeffery to New York City where Jimi Hendrix lived.
The summer of '68 was a busy one filled with tours and special one night festivals across USA and Europe. Hendrix finally got a chance to do some driving after his roadie, Gerry Stickells, drove it from New York City to Los Angeles, California where the band was staying at an apartment in Benedict Canyon. Mitch Mitchell continues the story from there, "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. How the hell he survived I've no idea. He'd completely demolished the car. Luckily, he'd turned right and hit some rocks. If he'd turned left it would've been over the edge of the canyon which is a 300 foot drop."
Mitch's account checks on every angle except for the date. Since Cream was on tour that fall they played Oakland California on October 4th. The party was held afterwards which would suggest the car perished sometime on October 5th. The problem is Oakland California is across the bridge from San Francisco which is over 200 mile away from Los Angeles. A check of Cream's farewell tour reveals they also played the Inglewood Forum in Los Angles on Oct 18th and 19th. It seems to me Mitch's post concert party had to be either one of those dates which means the first Hendrix Corvette was totalled on October 18th, 19th, or 20th, 1968. The first Corvette was bought at Blaushild Chevrolet in Cleveland, Ohio and was ordered March 26th. It was a dark blue metallic coupe. No details on the drive train are known. The insurance company processed the claim and a replacement car was ordered. This second car was also a Corvette.
Another completely different story of Hendrix's first Corvette has made the rounds but it is suspect on a couple of details. Famous photographer, Ron Raefaelli, was with Hendrix in Maui, Hawaii. Rafaelli claimed Hendrix crashed his car there. The Experience did play dates in Honolulu and vacationed in Maui but they were only there for two weeks. It's unlikely the car was shipped to Hawaii for two weeks only to be sent back when the band continued to tour. A more likely event is Hendrix renting a Corvette while on the island. There is footage of Ron Rafaelli and Hendrix together in a silver Corvette but this was shot in Shokan, New York in 1969 and that was Hendrix's second Corvette.
Hendrix's replacement vette was a Cortez Silver coupe with either a 327 or 350 small block V8 and automatic transmission. Inside was a molded steering wheel and aftermarket Japanese cassette player. The interior color was either black or gunmetal silver vinyl. Musician Al Marks, recalled moving Hendrix's second vette from a no parking zone to somewhere on the Record Plant's property one night when Hendrix was there recording tracks for Electric Ladyland. "I was scared to move his car because I couldn't drive a stick shift. However, it was an automatic and the passenger seat was littered with cassettes for the player in the dash." Hendrix lived in New York City in 1969 when he wasn't touring. He drove it around town and later in the summertime he moved to a secluded house in Shokan, New York where he rehearsed a band to perform at Woodstock Music Festival. He also was seen driving the car in Harlem for the Harlem Street Festival where he played a benefit concert. After August 1969, Hendrix went on tour again to pay for mounting bills related to the construction of Electric Ladyland Studio, his dream project.
Hendrix died in London on Sept 17th, 1970 after an arduous European tour. The car was sold by his manager, Micheal Jefferys to pay off massive bills owing against the Hendrix Estate related to construction. Hendrix's NYC apartment was whisked clean of personal effects within two days of his death. There is a strong chance this Corvette still exists today. I have shown a 1968 vette in Cortez Silver above for reference. Hendrix's interior appears to be either black or dark gunmetal. His car would also have the Stingray script and 1969 door handles. To recap, it was Cortez Silver with automatic transmission, a/c, tinted glass 327 or 350 V8 engine molded steering wheel with gunmetal grey or black vinyl interior. The original windshield will have a parking permit dated 1969 and 1970. A good title search could turn up this car if you knew which company name it was registered under. It could be Bella Godiva Music, Yameta Music Corporation, Yameta Publishing or Micheal Jefferys. Seeing as to how quickly the apartment and personal effects were seized as well as the general murkiness of Micheal's overseas tax dodge set ups, Jefferys likely owned the car on paper. Hendrix never got actual royalty checks when he was alive. He just contacted Yameta Corporation for cash on major purchases and sent all bills to same.
By:Patrick Smith
