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One of my favorite exhibits at The Henry Ford was Rock Stars’ Cars & Guitars. It was a temporary exhibit that ran from May 16 to September 7, 2009, at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Michigan.
Entrance
The entrance to the exhibit featured the van that Soundgarden drove from gig to gig in the 1980s, spreading the “Seattle sound”, which later became known as grunge.
Also at the entrance was a checkered car, John Deere tractor, clothes, and equipment owned by Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, as well as costumes and memorabilia from Kiss.
Cars
Inside the exhibit, there were several cars on display, including: Elvis Presley’s 1973 Cadillac; Snoop Dogg’s 1974 Cadillac Coupe DeVille (Snoop DeVille “Sticky Icky”); a 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback driven by Sheryl Crow in the “Steve McQueen” music video; and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons’ 1932 Ford Coupe (Eliminator).
Next to a 1956 Lincoln owned by Pete Townshend, I was able to see guitars, drums, and clothing used by The Who.
Guitars
The memorabilia was just as interesting as the cars. Rick Nielsen lent his huge guitar collection to the exhibit, which included a 1955 Fender Stratocaster used by Jimi Hendrix during a sound check in Madison, Wisconsin, on February 27, 1968, and B.B. King’s “Lucille”, a 1999 Gibson.
Blues legends Howlin’ Wolf and Buddy Guy each had a guitar on display, courtesy of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
