Rock Stars’ Cars & Guitars 2 now playing The Henry Ford

Posted by DominiqueKing | Filed under design, events, music

Cool cars and hot tracks…what’s not to like?

Playing off of the popularity of their original Rock Stars’ Cars & Guitars exhibit in 2007, The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn offers up a second helping of heavy metal chrome and raucous tunes with an all-new encore featuring more than 20 cool cars, 50 custom guitars, plus stage costumes and rock props.


Rock Stars' Cars & Guitars, The Henry Ford MI

We hit the show’s May 16 debut on a rainy Saturday, and found the normally staid museum rocking out to free concerts by local bands like kid-friendly favorites The Candy Band and, for an 80s flashback, the retro cover band 80’s Inc.

Read more about the stars, cars and guitars after the break…


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The music got everyone revved up as they toured the car and guitar collection, which reminded me a bit of exhibits at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum—only with more of an emphasis on the cool custom rides, many of them loaned to the museum by the music stars themselves.

Some of my favorite rides included the pearl-lavender 1953 Buick Skylark, complete with a matching amp and guitar, from Metallica’s James Hetfield and Alice Cooper’s lime-green “Billion Dollar Babies” themed 1939 Lincoln Zephyr.


Rock Stars' Cars & Guitars, The Henry Ford MI

Snoop Dogg’s gold Caddy, the long black Continental that starred in a Kid Rock video, the famous 1933 red Ford Coupe “Eliminator” that starred in several ZZ Top videos…they’re all here.

There are also plenty of great guitars on display, including: a five-neck Hamer from Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen; a pink guitar from rockabilly queen and 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Wanda Jackson; and one of blues legend B.B. King’s “Lucille” guitars.

A small selection of stage costumes and props scattered throughout the show include wardrobes from several generations of music stars, up to and including stage wear from the Jonas Brothers.

The exhibit itself probably takes an hour or less to see. But then if you haven’t been to The Henry Ford lately, there are plenty of cars, other vehicles and roadside memorabilia to keep the gear head in you happy for at least several hours.


Rock Stars' Cars & Guitars, The Henry Ford MI

Meanwhile, the show’s title, Rock Stars’ Cars & Guitars 2, made the apostrophe geek in me happy.

The Henry Ford, 20900 Oakwood (just west of the Southfield Freeway and south of Michigan Ave. in Dearborn), is open 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. seven days a week.

Rock Stars’ Cars & Guitars 2 runs through September 7 at The Henry Ford and is included with the regular $15 museum admission.

Related posts:

  1. The Henry Ford transforms Motor City to Maker City July 31-Aug. 1
  2. Maker Faire Detroit makes over The Henry Ford for a full weekend
  3. Who’s Ready to Rock?! Like, at School…
  4. Arts Beats & Eats announces Ford as title sponsor
  5. Stars of ‘The Last Airbender’ talk moviemaking, Michigan, a little thing called ‘Twilight’

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Permalink | May 18th, 2009

5 Responses to “Rock Stars’ Cars & Guitars 2 now playing The Henry Ford”

  1. Dr. Jessie Voigts Says:
    May 19th, 2009 at 11:47 am

    Cool exhibit! thanks so much for sharing it with us - we’ll have to head over to D-town and see it!

  2. Cindy L Says:
    May 19th, 2009 at 10:02 pm

    Thanks for this reminder — I’ve been meaning to get out there to see this exhibit. My musician husband has to go with me, too.
    You gotta love the Henry Ford for keeping things fresh.

  3. DominiqueKing Says:
    May 20th, 2009 at 12:39 am

    Jessie-You should come on over this way and see the show. It’s here through the summer.
    The Henry Ford and/or Greenfield Village are always worth the trip in any case. We’re usually out there at least a half dozen times each year. We bought memberships so we could just come and go at will…sometimes we’ll just pop over for lunch or to wander around and take photos for an hour.

    Cindy-The preview day was fun because they had the bands playing throughout the afternoon, and I’d yet to hear The Candy Band around town (they had a lot of young, young fans there that day).
    There were quite a few great guitars on display, including a batch of Les Pauls that belonged to various Blues greats.

  4. Matt Dibble Says:
    May 20th, 2009 at 8:14 am

    I’ve gotta check this out.
    I missed out on the first one… I’m determined not to do the same this time.

  5. DominiqueKing Says:
    May 20th, 2009 at 9:43 am

    Matt-We decided to go to the opening day of the show at the last minute because the weather was kind of cruddy that day…and I’m glad we made it over there. Seeing the bands was fun, and that way, we made sure we weren’t going to miss this show.
    Taking photos was a bit of a challenge between the crowds and the lighting, but I managed to come up with some decent shots. Not so much luck with the video I shot, but I’ve just been experimenting lately to figure out whether I want one of those tiny video Sony cameras to shoot some short stuff for my blog (I’m talking mostly 30 second or so clips, kind of like Eric’s dino stuff at the zoo)…

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