It’s been 4 years since the latest album of the famous rock band Metallica was released. Lead singer, band leader and co-founder of the band James Hetfield is still busy performing everywhere. However, he still has time for his passion for cars.

James Hetfield, leader of the band Metallica.

Not only famous in the world music industry, Hetfield is also known as a veteran hot rod car collector. He and his friend, Rick Dore, have received awards for their cars many times. The latest among them is the award for a custom car named Black Pearl.

The Goodguys hot rod and custom car association awarded the Black Pearl the award. Accordingly, the car of Metallica’s leader was honored as “car of 2014”. Before winning, Black Pearl had to compete with about 40 other custom cars.

Black Pearl

Basically, the Black Pearl is not a hot rod. In fact, the Black Pearl is a completely custom car, born from a 1948 Jaguar classic car. All of the Black Pearl’s body panels are handcrafted from aluminum. Responsible for producing the bodywork for Metallica’s leader’s car are Marcel and Luc De Lay from Southern California, USA. These are two of the leading car tuning experts in the world. 

Meanwhile, Hetfield and Dore are the two people who directly designed the appearance of “black pearl”. From 2008 until now, Hetfield has designed about 7 different custom cars. Therefore, he is completely experienced in this field. 4 of the 7 cars mentioned above were designed by Hetfield together with Dore.

Black Pearl is designed with inspiration from European cars created in the ’20s-’30s, combined with traditional American custom style. Covering the entire body of the car is a layer of black paint designed by Darryl Hollenbeck from Vintage Color Studio, thereby providing a perfect contrast to the other shiny accessories.

However, the special feature of Black Pearl lies in the fact that no one recognizes that the car was customized from a 1948 Jaguar. Inside the car is an elegant space with an Art Deco-style dashboard.

Inside the 1948 Jaguar frame is a 4.9-liter Ford V8 engine block, producing a maximum capacity of 375 horsepower. Of course, the engine is not the highlight of the Black Pearl. Instead, the new design style is what makes people impressed about the Metallica leader’s car.

Before receiving the “car of the year 2014” award, Black Pearl was named many times in other events such as the Grand National Roadster exhibition at Pomona and Sacramento Autorama. Mr. John Drummond, spokesman for the Goodguys association, called the Black Pearl a “groundbreaking” custom car. 

“I don’t remember the last time I saw a custom car as impressive as the Black Pearl,” said Mr. Drummond. “The car has set new standards in the motoring industry.”

Let’s admire the appearance of Black Pearl: