Porsche 356 SC Cabriolet “History of the Universe” Art Car, 1964, by Janis Joplin.

 Porsche 356 SC Cabriolet “History of the Universe” Art Car, 1964, by Janis Joplin. Joplin paid $3500 for the Porsche and then spent another $500 when she commissioned her roadie and part-time artist, Dave Richards, to paint it for her. Richards initially gave chassis no. 160371 a base coat of candy apple red paint, over which he created the work History of the Universe. Richards artwork included Joplin’s astrological sign (Capricorn), portraits of her fellow band members, the green valleys of Northern California and The Eye of God. Every inch of the bodywork was covered and then a lacquered clear coat was applied over the top. Joplin used the 356 as her daily driver and it was parked outside the Hollywood hotel she was staying at the night of her death from a heroin overdose on October 4th 1970.