L'idea di collegare la cultura rock con le automobili (certo non nuovissima) non è male e la mostra prende spunto dal libro "Garage Rock" di Pieter Rijckaert. Alcune delle vetture esposte sono abbastanza interessanti, anche se quasi tutte già viste e riviste.

Di seguito alcuni dei brani musicali (accessibili attraverso QR Codes nel pannello descrittivo) associati (accostamenti talvolta opinabili e con poca fantasia ... tre brani di Elvis!) alle rispettive automobili, ad esempio:

• 1928 Austin 7/Dixi (Eric Clapton - Terraplane Blues)

After a gig with John Mayall in London, Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac notices an adorable Austin Seven sweetly eyeing him. He leaves his details with the owner and, after two years, can finally call the frisky small car his own. A few hot summers later he leaves the Austin with Eric Clapton who promises to take good care of it. 14 years later Fleetwood is contacted by Clapton's manager and asked whether he still wanted the Austin, because it had apparently been residing an orchard for years, looking more like a large derelict bird's nest. Mick finally decides to have the small car restored and shipped to his home Hawaii.

• 1935 Oldsmobile F35-C (Chuck Berry - Meybellene / No Particulare Place To Go)

Besides Ike Turner and Bill Haley someone else also has the chance of claiming the "Father of Rock Roll" title . In his youth Charles Edward Anderson works at the Fiher Auto Body shop and later at the Amations Car American Car Foundry. When he has had enough of that he uses his 1937 Oldsmobile for a threefold "shoplifting" before being arrested for ripping his tyres to shreds. In 1955 Charles Anderson takes on the alias of "Chuck Berry" and releases his first number: "Maybellene". The song involves a light - skinned woman who drives men crazy when she charges through the town with her Cadillac Coupe Deville. Chuck Berry realises that cars are popular and sings about them often and at length, with "No Particular Place Go" as the best known variant.

• 1948 Chrysler New Yorker Convertibile (Carl Perkins / Elvis Preley - Blue Suede Shoes)

On his way to a joint concert Johnny Cash tells the story of a soldier who orders everyone not to step on his blue suede shoes while dancing. Perkins takes over the story and adapts it to a well - known children's song:
One for the money
Two for the show
Three to get ready
Four for go.
Carl Perkins records the song and "Blue Suede Shoes" becomes a gigantic hit . Elvis Presley also covers "Blue Suede Shoes" at various TV appearances. His rather evocative dance style means that Presley will in due course become the absolute "King of Rock & Roll".

• 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 (Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats - Rocket 88)

On 3 March 1951 Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats, side project of Ike Turner's King of Rhythm, are squeezed together in a car, surrounded by their instruments. They are on their way to the Sun music studio of Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee, to record songs. One of these is a separate number in a new style, mix between jump blues and swing Combo. It is called "Rocket 88", after the Oldsmobile Rocket 88 and is based on "Cadillac Boogie" of Jimmy Liggins and Pete Johnson's "Rocket 88 Boogie", two songs about cars. Rocket 88 is an enormous hit. It will, according to many become the very first rock 'n roll song. This is also the first "black" record to be played on white radio stations.

• 1951 Land Rover Series 1 (Dominique - Soeur Sourire)

After John F. Kennedy had been callously shot in 1963, only pious music could be played for a while in the United States. One of these is the holy voice of the Belgian Dominican sister Jeannine Deckers - aka Soeur Sourire - whose song "Dominique" is untenably catapulted to number one in the American charts, the only Belgian song to have succeeded up until now. Soour Sourire captivates the wildly popular talk show host Ed Sullivan, who flies all the way to Fichermont, in the vicinity of Waterloo in Belgium, to meet the singing nun. Unfortunately, Mother Superior hampers the meeting. Following hard negotiations, the presenter buys them a Land Rover and finally succeeds in his endeavour. During the return flight Sullivan makes a stopover in Liverpool, where hordes of teenage girls go overboard because the blasphemous group The Beatles have just landed. Sullivan promptly invites the long-haired Brits to his show and in the same breath launches them in the United States.

• 1955 Porsche 550 (Will Tura & Stijn Meuris - Arne Joe)

On 30th September 1955 the actor James Dean at the wheel of his Porsche 550 Spyder bearing number 130, is killed in an accident. Dean is a symbol for the rock 'n roll generation and an inspiration for the young Will Tura. It inspires him to write the song "Arme Joe" (Poor Joe) about a racing driver who crashes, leading to a lifelong adoration for Porsches. In 1990 Noordkaap do a cover of "Arme Joe", with which they win the Humo's Rock Rally and score a hit.

• 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air (Eagles - Hotel California)

Henley and Glenn Frey, the Eagles backbone both hail from Detroit. A Motor City and in 60s the most musical city on earth, spurred Motown Records. Like so many others, their parents make their living in the car industry. That very same Frey drives his '55 Chevy, which he christened "Gladys", to Los Angeles to seek musical fortune there, something he succeeds doing with more than 200 million records sold. Their monster hit "Hotel California" is based Frey's view as he drives over the brow of a hill sees Los Angeles looming in the distance. Frey later donates "Gladys" to Jackson Browne .

• 1959 Cadillac 62 (Elvis Presley - Baby Let's Play House)

When Elvis is a well-established value in the rock 'n roll world, "The King" covers the song "Baby, Let's Play House" of Arthur Gunther. In it he replaces the lyrics "You may get religion," with "You may get a pink Cadillac." A pink Cadillac being "slang" for a specific part of the female anatomy. When in 1954 he goes on tour in his dream car, a Cadillac Fleetwood Series 60, he has it sprayed pink. In 1983 Bruce Springsteen brings out "Pink Cadillac" as the B-side of "Dancing In The Dark". Bette Middler also wants to cover the song, but because of the sexual connotation "The Boss" refuses.

• 1960 BMW 507 (Elvis Presley - Kiss Me Quick)

Elvis Presley is a car freak unlike any other and buys a fleet of cars. He gives away no less than 37 Cadillac models to friends, co-workers or casual passers-by. He has his white BMW 507 resprayed in red due to the bodywork invariably being defaced with telephone numbers written with red lipstick.

• 1964 Facel Vega II (Ringo Starr - It Don't Come Easy)

In 1964, The Beatles' success continued into the garage of the Fab Four. After Paul McCartney buys an Aston Martin DB5, Lennon buys a Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 and George Harrison a graceful Jaguar E-Type. Ringo Starr can't possibly be left behind. He states in a fanzine that he likes driving and that he especially likes to drive very fast at night, preferably in a high powered hunk of iron. Such as his brand new Facel Vega II, because the chic French car has a big 6.3 liter Chrysler VB with 395 hp in the front, good for a top of more than 240 km/h. Still, according to legend, Ringo doesn't even want to get out of his seat when the seller delivers the moving piece of art to his door. Starr always drives so horribly fast that his bandmates strongly advise him to get rid of the French lightning bolt. In 1968, the Facel was eventually replaced by a Mercedes 350 in which he and his wife Barbara Bach nearly lost their lives, when in 1980 they crashed into the bridge pier that killed T. Rex singer Marc Bolan three years earlier, when his girlfriend drives right into it in her Mini. Ringo is not only a good friend of Bolan, but also the godfather of his son Rolan. Ringo isn't the only star to fall for the mundane Facel Vega. Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, Dean Martin and Pablo Picasso all have one to the side, while French writer Albert Camus dies in such an expression of good taste and savoir vivre. Despite all those famous owners, the brand never earns much money and it already went bankrupt in 1964.

• 1965 Ford Mustang (Wilson Pickett - Mustang Sally)

Singer Della Reese wants to gift her drummer Calvin Shields a brand - new Lincoln for his birthday. Unfortunately Shields somewhat ungratefully announces that he would prefer a Mustang. Mack Rice finds it such a noteworthy story that it inspires him to write "Mustang Mama". When he subsequently gets to know Aretha Franklin, the queen of soul . suggests renaming the song "Mustang Sally" , in analogy with the refrain Ride, Sally, ride. It works and Rice scores a modest hit. During a Rice and Franklin performance Wilson Pickett is so enchanted with the song that he wants to cover it. Pickett's version becomes one of the most best known R&B classics ever. Shortly after the launch of the Mustang, John Lee Hooker records "Mustang Sally Bought a GTO". Lou Reed in turn adds "Ride Sally Ride" to his album "Sally Can't Dance". Famous Mustang owners include Elvis Presley and Jim Morrison of The Doors fame, who uses his blue Shelby GT 500 in the short film "HWY , An American Pastoral", prior to never finding it again after al drunken night out.

• 1965 Chevrolet Stingray Convertible (Prince - Little Red Corvette)

To celebrate their fruitful collaboration Prince buys a Mercury Montclair Marauder for Lisa Coleman of Wendy & Lisa. Following an exhausting night recording session, Prince dozes off in that very same Mercury, Between waking and sleeping he dreams up the idea for "Little Red Corvette", his first major hit. Thanks to this success "1999" is rereleased, after which His Small Purpleness shoots to world stardom. When Stevie Nicks, the former Fleetwood Mac singer hears "Little red Corvette" on her car radio, it inspires her to write the song "Stand Back".

• 1965 AC Cobra (The Rip Chords - Hey Little Cobra)

Song writer Carol Connors - who later also created the Rocky theme song - on an unfortunate day has a crash with her friend's gorgeous AC Bristol. Thereupon she asks the car manufacturer Carrol Shelby whether he could fit a Cobra nose to replace the crumpled front of the AC. However, Shelby has a better idea. He would be delighted to offer her a real Cobra should she get a song about the car into the hit parade. As a result, in 1963 The Rip Chords release "Hey Little Cobra", written by Connors. It immediately comes in at number 4 in the Billboard 100 and Shelby, naturally, keeps to his word. As from 1965 Rip Chords' singer Bruce Johnston replaces Brian Wilson as singer with The Beach Boys .

• 1966 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow (The Who - Going Mobile)

Keith Moon, the drummer of The Who, is nicknamed "Moon the Loon" because of his destructive behaviour, which includes coming into contact with cars. After forgetting to put on the handbrake his car a Rolls - Royce according to some, Lincoln Continental according to others - rolls into a swimming pool that is under construction in his garden. According to Roger Daltrey, The Who singer, Moon had personally parked the car in the pool, whereby adding another nail to his coffin. At the same time Daltrey had to admit that after so many years and more of drink and drugs memories have become foggy, and that he might be confusing everything with the time the drummer had very deliberately jettisoned a 1939 Chrysler Wimbledon into a pond, because the band had refused to pay for his car. Whatever the case, parking a Rolls Royce in swimming pool becomes a kind of anti - establishment symbol of rock 'n roll. This prompts Oasis to pre Photoshop a Rolls parked in a swimming pool for photo that would adorn their album "Be Here Now", one of the most expensive album covers out of music history.

• 1969 VW Maggiolino (Blondie - I'm on E)

The VW Beetle was immortalised on arguably the most iconic rock 'n roll album cover: Abbey Road by The Beatles. However, a similar white VW Beetle almost played a more gruesome role in rock history. After a friend had dumped the Chevrolet Camaro that Blondie , front woman Debbie Harry, had received from her mother into the Atlantic Ocean she is in saddened. So she writes the song "I'm On E" , which is mistakenly linked to the drug Ecstasy. When somewhat later she carelessly wanders through New York after a night out, a white VW Beetle stops to offer her a lift. As she gets into the car, she immediately notices that the inside door latch is missing. She instinctively sticks her arm through the window, is able to unlock the door and escapes. Only later does she recognise the man behind the wheel. It is Ted Bundy, one of the most ruthless serial killers out of America's history.

• 1969 Lotus Elan S4 (Joh Lennon - A Day In The Life).

January 1967 Paul McCartney's Austin Healey involved in a traffic accident . Nothing wrong with that, but the accident is often confused with that of the 21 - year - old Tara Browne, an heir to the Guinness beer empir, who on 18th December 1966 perishes as the result of a crash with his Lotus Elan S2 in London. Two years later several American students claim that McCartney had died then. They support this bold statement with the most remarkable pointers. These range from the line "Turn me on, dead man" heard apparently when you play 'Revolution 9' from the "The White Album" backwards, to the fact that McCartney is the sole one who appears barefoot on the cover of Abbey Road, through to "I buried Pau"l that John Lennon seems to say at the end of "Strawberry Fields Forever". Although McCartney claims that it indeed refers to cranberry sauce, an increasing number of people believe that he was actually replaced by a certain William Campbell, an individual who had in the past won a McCartney lookalike competition. As at cheeky nod to quash any further rumours McCartney subsequently releases the album "Paul Is Live".

• 1969 Mercedes 280 SE 3.5 (Janis Joplin - Mercedes Benz)

On 1st October 1970 Janis Joplin arrives at the studio to preview the album "Pearl". Due to a technical problem and to pass the time, Joplin sings the song "Mercedes - Benz" a cappella. She had for some time been performing the song live cappella, or "Acapulco" as she called it. Three days later John Cooke finds her in a hotel room. Dead. Following an overdose Joplin is yet another sadly lamented member of the illustrious 27 Club. Because there were insufficient songs to complete the "Pearl" album, "Mercedes - Benz" also receives place on the record. Thanks to its remarkable social context and pure simplicity, it becomes posthumously her biggest hit. It is the best - known song ever with a car as subject and is covered. hundreds of times. Even Elton John takes it on. A striking detail is that in the song Joplin states that she wants a Mercedes because all her friends drive Porsche, while she herself'runs around L.A, in a psychedelic - coloured Porsche 356C.

• 1972 Lamborghini Miura (Van Halen - Panama)

The Lamborghini Miura looks as though it was made to seduce rock stars. Which the Italian make also promptly does. Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi owns ore until it atches fire. Johnny Haliday even buys two after having managed to crash one. Or the other hand, Eddie van Halen parks his model in the studio to record the fabulous engine sound for the song "Panama". Rod Stewart is a fervent Lamborghini fan, who uses it for what it was made for: to drive fast and bring girlfriends back to his love nest.

• 1973 De Tomaso Pantera (Elvis Presley - Suspicious Mind)

American heart under Italian suit. When his De Tomaso Pantera refused to start Elvis shot at it twice , after which the car suddenly did start. On a more tragic note: on December 8, 1984 Mötley Crüe's singer Vince Neil crashed with a Pantera resulting in the death of Nicholas Charles Dingley, better known by his stage name Razzle, the English drummer of Finnish glam rock band Hanoi Rocks. The 2019 movie "The Dirt" depicts the event incorrectly, with a Corvette C4 instead of the italian exotic.

• 1973 Mini Clubman 1275 GT (T. Rex - Gold Easy Action)

If there is one car that can rival Cadillac as the most used four-wheeler by rockers, it is surely the Mini. Each member of the Beatles received one from their Manager, Brian Epstein. To be able to transport his drumkit Ringo Starr has his Mini converted. This could well have been the first 'hot hatch' in history. David Bowie, whose first job had involved bolting Minis together on the assembly line, is an undying Mini fan. Other famous Mini devotees are Mick Jagger, Elton John, Madonna, Paul Weller (The Jam), Lilly Allen, Mike Nesmith (The Monkees). The Mini also has a dramatic impact on rock history. T. Rex's Marc Bolan vows never to obtain his driving license after his great hero Eddie Cochran is killed in an accident with a taxi, in which rockabilly king Gene Vincent is also seriously injured. But after a party on 16th September 1977 Bolan climbs into the purple Mini 1275 GT belonging to his girlfriend Gloria Jones. In southwest London she crashes into a fence post followed by a tree and Bolan is killed outright. In the 1972 T. Rex hit "Solid Gold Easy Action" Bolan sang the prophetic words Easy as picking foxes from a tree. The registration plate of this doomed Mini was none other than FOX 661L.

• 1974 Hot Rod "Bernie Chodosh" (The Beach Boys - Little Deuce Coupe)

In 1963 The Beach Boys release "Little Deuce Coupe". The Beach Boys have a nose for hip trends among the youth, such as surfing and hot rods, and souped - up classic cars used for street racing. Little Deuce Coupe is an ode to the hot rod and everything relating to it. It is also the first pure theme record. Hot rods are not only symbolic of rock ' n roll, as souped - up classic 1930's machines, but many rockers are also infatuated by hot rods. Jeff Beck builds his own hot rods, James Hetfield of Metallica owns a large collection, even Johnny Halliday was a fan, as was the Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. But the most renowned hot rod of all is undoubtedly ZZ Top's "Eliminator" which played a leading role in three videoclips and could almost be looked upon as being ZZ Top's fourth member of the band.

• 1978 Chevrolet Corvette (Roy Orbison - I Drove All Night)

In the second half of the '80s Roy Orbison ventures make a comeback with the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys. Orbison enjoyed a great deal of success the '60s, with songs he often composed in scar, not wishing to disturb his young family. As an out - and - out Corvette fanatic Orbison wears out a considerable number of Stingrays during his turbulent life. When driving home from the recording studio he has the habit of listening to his various recordings, Orbison posthumously scored another hit with "I Drove All Night", a number that likewise becomes a hit for Cindy Lauper as well as Celin Dion. Dion's version is financed by Chrysler to promote their car sales, but reaches number one only in Belgium.

• 1980 Porsche 928 S (AC/DC - Walk All Over You)

In a video clip of the song "Walk All Over You", AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd uses a Porsche 928 to race 'all over' an airport's frozen grass somewhere France.

• 2008 Tesla Roadster (David Bowie - Space Oddity)

Under the banner of his SpaceX - project Elon Musk chalks up a heap of publicity when in 2018 launches a Tesla Roadster into space. On the radio, David Bowie's "Space Oddity" is played endless repeat.

Purtroppo, nessuna di queste auto è stata, in realtà, di proprietà di una rockstar.

Di seguito una breve galleria fotografica, per ulteriori immagini si rimanda al nostro twitter account #rockstarscars.