A musical pairing of cars and guitars
One of the draws to vintage muscle cars is the sweet, sweet V-8 tunes flowing from their tailpipes. Now classic auto enthusiasts who also like to rock out can bring one aspect of the hobby out of the garage and into their music.
California-based G&L Musical Instruments has launched a new series of guitars that take inspiration from the best of what Detroit was churning out during the 1960s and 1970s.
The company has taken six of its guitar models and painted them in the exact hues found on some of the most iconic muscle cars.
At the 2014 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals Nov. 21-22 in Rosemont, the company's Color My World display paired dozens of guitars with their four-wheeled colored brethren.
The first auto-inspired collection of guitars being offered by G&L is its SS Collection. It features four historic GM colors. Available are guitars drenched in Daytona Yellow, Hugger Orange, Cranberry Red or Marina Blue paint.
Specific inspiration came from the 427 ZL-1 Camaro and Corvette, 1969 Camaro RS/Z28, the LS6 Chevelle 454 SS and 1965 Corvette Stingray Trans Am race cars, respectively.
Later, the series will also extend to the colors of Mopar's four-wheeled legends with the R/T Series. That collection will include such splashy colors as Curious Yellow, Panther Pink and Go Mango. All of the guitars are painted with a nitrocellulose lacquer paint, following in the traditions of many '60s muscle cars.
At the Corvette Nationals, where the guitars were placed by their matching vehicles, the pairs went together in perfect harmony. Aimee Chamberlain and her boyfriend took part in the vibrant display. Their lustrous In Violet 1971 Road Runner was naturally paired with an exact-hued purple guitar.
“It's such a neat idea,” the Port Washington, Wisconsin, resident said. “We'd love to own one (of the guitars). We already have some ideas of how to show it with the car.”
While no additional guitar collections have been announced, we found numerous vehicles bearing Ford and AMC badges in the display paired with color-keyed guitars. We wouldn't be surprised if G&L extends the special promotion to include these and other brands, so even more car owners may be able to get in on the melody-making fun.