Metallica guitarist James Hetfield’s scratch-built car, Black Pearl, won Goodguys' 2014 Mother's Custom Of The Year award during the Goodguys 32nd annual All American Get-Together, which was held March 29-30 in Pleasanton, California.
Good-Guys.com reports that, unlike Hetfield’s previous custom sleds, Black Pearl is completely scratch-built. It’s not any particular make or model. It’s sculpted, handmade aluminum body is inspired by the tear drop contours and seamless body transitions of coach built European and American cars of the 1930s. It rests on a custom built chassis which utilizes the outer frame rails of a 1948 Jaguar.
Southern California’s Marcel and Luc De Lay, two of the top coach builders in the world, handled the chores of forming, shaping and building the body. They’re one of only a handful of metal shapers, capable of taking on the task of building a one off custom car like the ‘Pearl.
“As an artist myself, I see the passion, dedication and perfectionism it takes to be good at your craft,” says Hetfield of the De Lay’s work. “I am humbled by their gift of metal sculpting. The fact that they started with a 8×10 drawing and ended up with a complete car is a testament to the ability of the human mind and hands. It still blows people’s minds when they ask what body we started with and we say ‘steel sheets.’”
In addition to the Goodguys 2014 Mother’s Custom of the Year, The ‘Pearl won the Sam Barris Award as well as the Custom d’Elegance at the Sacramento AutoRama.
Hetfield and Metallica just wrapped up a South American tour this past weekend in Buenos Aires, Argentina; the band will bring their “request” show to Europe for dates beginning May 28 in Helsinki, Finland.
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