TOP GEAR

Cars and electric guitars have always been intertwined as closely as the pinstripes on a custom Les Paul. DuPont’s Lake Placid Blue Metallic paint graced both Fender Strats and the starship-like cars of the late 50s, such as the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham. Yet that was far from the only example of crossover between six-string and four-wheeled worlds, as Robert Johnson’s Terraplane Blues from 1936 attests. The ‘Terraplane’ of the song’s title was an elegant vehicle built by the Hudson Motor Car Company in the same era, making the song an early example of the car cult that later guitarists such as Eddie Cochrane would amplify through rock ’n’ roll hits such as Somethin’ Else.

Guitars and custom cars were, then as now, both symbols of freedom and breathtaking pieces of industrial art. And few men have more feeling for that thrilling connection than Billy F Gibbons of ZZ Top. Fuelled by the band’s prodigious chart successes, Billy has built up a mind-blowing collection of vintage and custom-built guitars, most of which have been used on milestone ZZ recordings – while his outrageous chopped, modded and pinstriped vintage cars often appeared in the band’s videos and album art. Now,, Billy’s throwing open the doors of his garage to curious visitors. We joined him for a chat about his dual collections and indulged in a personal tour of his most prized custom guitars, many of which share the same design DNA as his hot-rod cars.