METALLICA's JAMES HETFIELD To Appear At Opening Reception Of 'Reclaimed Rust' At Petersen Automotive Museum

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield recently donated his collection of 10 highly regarded custom cars to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Starting February 1, Hetfield's cars, a number of guitars, photos and memorabilia will be on the floor of the venue in the museum's Bruce Meyer Family Gallery until October.

Hetfield's collection, dubbed "Reclaimed Rust: The James Hetfield Collection", includes Voodoo Priest, based on a '37 Lincoln Zephyr, a '36 Auburn roadster named Slow Burn, a Delahaye inspired '34 Packard, Aquarius, a '36 Ford in bare metal called Iron Fist, a purple '56 Ford F-100 pickup truck, and three cars by custom fabricator Rick Dore: Black Pearl, a custom 1948 Jaguar, a '52 Olds named Grinch, and Skyscraper, a 1953 Buick Skylark.

"'Reclaimed Rust' brings together two industries that go hand in hand with artist expression," said Petersen Automotive Museum executive director Terry L. Karges in a statement.

"This is the first time the Hetfield collection will be showcased to the public and we can't wait to share the inspiration behind these extraordinary vehicles with the world."

Hetfield will be at the museum on January 30, when a ticketed opening reception is being held along with a "fireside chat" and an auction of two of the METALLICA guitarist/vocalist's limited-edition ESP guitars.

Check out a "Reclaimed Rust" image gallery at Autoblog.com.

As previously reported, Insight Editions has set a May 5 release date for "Reclaimed Rust: The Four-Wheeled Creations Of James Hetfield". In the book, Hetfield opens up his garage for an exclusive tour of the highlights of his incredible collection of restored and customized classic cars.

A few years ago, Hetfield said that he approaches building hot rods the same way he approaches writing music. "Building cars is always an escape," he explained. "It's the same with music. I don't know what I'm gonna make. Cars are like people to me; they like love. They love to be touched, they love to be handled, they love to be driven... they love to be admired… This is a form of expression and freedom, and you can get away with driving something like that but still have your personality show through. It's just like looking at art. You look at a piece and you go, 'I don't get it.' And you look at something else and say, 'That is amazing. I wish I thought of that.'"

Last September, METALLICA canceled its tour of Australia and New Zealand so that Hetfield could enter rehab to battle his addictions.