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DEARBORN, Mich. -- It's an all-star fest with the Rock Stars' Cars and Guitars II exhibit inside Henry Ford with guitars, hot rods and vehicles, and memorabilia from supergroups and superstars such as Cheap Trick, The Who, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix. For instance, you'll be able to see a replica of the Mustang of a certain classic movie that has that was used in a recent Sheryl Crow video titled "Steve McQueen", the legendary hot rod used by ZZ Top in all of their five vidoes during their 80's heyday, and the car that Kid Rock drove throughout the Motor City for his "Roll On" video from his Rock and Roll Jesus album.

"First of all, this is an all-new Rock Stars, Cars and Guitars," said Tom Varitek, senior manager of program operations at The Henry Ford. "We've got an all-new collection of just rock and roll. Some of the big hits though are one of the biggest MTV stars of the 1980's, is the car that belonged to ZZ Top., The Eliminator Car. It was in five videos, t-shirts, album covers and it became ZZ Top. Another sort of iconic car was a 1965 Porshe that belonged to Janis Joplin. I mean it screams Janis. It's got flowers and butterflies and even her star sign on there."

This is the second installment of the exhibit, which has now includes Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) and the Jonas Brothers. Though they came from Disney and became teen sensations all over the world, these artists are now part of popular music -- just like Ricky Nelson, who began his career as an teen idol on television with The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, and later went on to have a successful adult career in music up until his death in 1985.

"It's much bigger than the previous one," Varitek said. "We've got more stuff including a car that was used by Miley Cyrus in the 2008 Kids Choice Awards on Nickelodeon. You can actually get inside that car. Some younger viewers will really be into that. Rock and roll has been with us for a long time. It's been defining each generation's version of cool. For 60 years, six decades of rock and roll, we've got them all covered. "

Now until Labor Day, other highlights also features the van driven by Soundgarden during the start of their rise back in the 1980's that paved the way to the birth of both the "Seattle Sound" -- aka grunge -- and alternative music; the drum sets from former lead singer/drummer Jimmy Marinos of new wave band the Romantics, hailed from no other than Detroit, and one of the five-necked guitars from Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, who it turns out is an collector of over 250.

"Elvis Presley all the way through to Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers are represented in this exhibit," Varitek said. "And a lot in between The Who, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Kid Rock, Snoop Dogg, we've got it covered. It is actually a unique exhibit. It was put together by the museum from dozens of different sources from the rock stars themselves, to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Experience Music Project. Never before has this group of stuff been together. It's put together by us and it really can only be seen here."

Rock Stars, Cars & Guitars II is included with museum admission. Henry Ford Museum is open seven days a week, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $14 for adults, $13 for seniors and $10 for youth; members and children four and under are free. For more information please call (313) 982-6001 or visit www.TheHenryFord.org.

 

PHOTO BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com

Logo above the entrance.

 

PHOTO BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com

1986 Chevrolet Beauville G10 Van driven by the alt-grunge band SoundGarden in its road tour.

 

PHOTO BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com

Memorabilia from the legendary rock group KISS.

 

PHOTO BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com

1940 Ford Coupe driven by Mike Ness of Social Distortion and 1963 Riviera "The Deceiver" driven by Jimmie Vaughan.

 

PHOTO BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com

Memorabilia from rock singer Jimmie Vaughn.

 

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