Metallica’s James Hetfield donates classic car collection to exhibition

Metallica's James Hetfield (Image credit: Tim Mosenfelder - Getty)

Metallica's James Hetfield has donated 10 of his classic cars to an exhibition which will open its doors in 2020.

The display will be at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles and will be held in February next year.

Among the exhibits will be Hetfield’s 1948 Jaguar ‘Black Pearl’ and his 1937 Lincoln Zephyr ‘Voodoo Priest’. The cars will be on display in the Bruce Meyer Family Gallery along with a selection of Metallica items and memorabilia.

Along with his love of cars, Hetfield was a keen bike rider – but he admitted back in 2016 that he had stopped riding motorcycles in a bid to minimise risks to his health.

Hetfield told Jeff Woods Radio: “I sold the one I ride. I’ve got a few customs and things that were built for me, or I helped build. I love that part.

“I had my daily rider and I sold it last year. I just thought, ‘It’s not me, it’s the other guy. Something is gonna happen, and I want to be healthy, have all my stuff work.’

“I want grandkids to show up, I want to have some fun with them.”

Metallica will perform two special S&M2 shows in San Francisco on September 6 and 8. The footage will then hit cinemas around the world on October 6.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.