When your first album sells...
When your first album sells more than 28 million copies and is ranked as the top-selling debut in the history of rock, you can own any car that’s on your short list. So what did Slash, the former lead guitarist for Guns N’ Roses, buy when his band hit the record-sales jackpot? The answer is a ’66 Sting Ray coupe with a Tri-power 427 and a four-speed trans. This photo was taken in 1995, as part of a promotional campaign for Gibson’s ’60 Corvette Les Paul guitar.
Owning a big-block–powered midyear Corvette coupe assuredly ranks high on the wish list of many Corvette aficionados. But what if you could add celebrity ownership to the equation—and what if the celebrity in question was Slash, the famous lead guitarist from the iconic hard-rock band Guns N’ Roses?
That’s exactly what had the Corvette-collecting community abuzz early this year when Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, California, announced that it would auction off Slash’s personally owned ’66 Corvette Sting Ray. The sale—dubbed, simply, “The Collection of Slash”—would also include a number of personal items from the rock musician’s private stash.
“I bought the ’66 Corvette in 1988, and it is the first real car I ever actually owned back when Guns N’ Roses made any money,” Slash tells VETTE in an exclusive interview. “Before that I had a Honda CRX, [but] that doesn’t count as a real car. All the important stuff is original, and it runs killer. [I] hate to part with it, but it never gets driven...I’m always on the road.”
“This Corvette was the most difficult item in the auction that Slash [decided to] let go,” Julien’s Auctions CEO Darren Julien says. “Slash’s Sting Ray has all the right stuff—a 427/435hp engine, a Muncie four-speed manual stick, power steering, power brakes, air conditioning, Chevy Rally wheels, and a ’67 Corvette big-block stinger hood.”
Here’s Slash’s Corvette today....
Here’s Slash’s Corvette today. By the time you read this, it should be in the hands of one lucky winning bidder.
Slash’s relationship with Corvette continued into the mid-1990s, when he endorsed the Gibson Guitars Custom Shop Les Paul ’60 Corvette. This limited-production guitar celebrated both General Motors and the legendary Nashville, Tennessee–based instrument maker. It featured the paint colors of a ’60 Corvette, mother-of-pearl Corvette script on the fretboard, pickup covers engraved with 283 and Fuel Injection, and an inlaid Chevrolet crossed-flags logo on the headstock. Two of these guitars were given to Slash by Gibson and were also scheduled to appear in the auction.
Julien’s expected Internet and on-site bidders to push the hammer price of Slash’s midyear coupe to over the $100,000 mark. (The high bid was not available at press time.) A portion of the proceeds from the 311 lots offered during the sale were slated to benefit one of Slash’s favorite charities, Los Angeles Youth Network (LAYN), which works to empower abused, neglected, and homeless adolescents to become self sufficient. (More information about the organization may be found at www.layn.org.)
The ’66 Sting Ray was Slash’s only Corvette.
For auction results, visit www.juliensauctions.com.