Metallica Meets Motors: Hetfield's Custom Creation - Video

Welcome to the very first episode of our Hetfield Collection Deep Dives series! In this debut chapter, we’re taking an in-depth look at one of the most stunning cars in the Petersen vault — The Black Pearl, the handbuilt Art Deco rolling sculpture imagined by James Hetfield and brought to life with legendary custom builder Rick Dore.

Before he was the voice of Metallica, James Hetfield was wrenching in garages and experimenting with traditional hot rods. The Black Pearl represents his evolution from rat rods to rolling art — a silhouette that simply didn’t exist before. The project began as a 1948 Jaguar Mark V saloon… and then almost entirely disappeared. Only the outer frame rails remain. Master metal shapers Marcel and Luke DeLay hand-formed raw aluminum and steel using traditional coachbuilding techniques — no CAD, just hammers, English wheels, and instinct.

Under that sweeping teardrop hood sits a 5.0L Ford 302 V8 pushing 375 horsepower through a C4 automatic transmission. Air ride suspension, Mustang II–style front end, and a four-link rear make it a cruiser built to look fast even at rest. Finished in a deep PPG black by Daryl Hollenbeck, the Pearl’s brushed brass trim replaces traditional chrome for a warm industrial patina. Inside, a cream leather interior by Ron Mangus completes the 1930s luxury vision.

The Black Pearl stands as a perfect bridge between the golden age of European coachbuilding and the soul of American heavy metal.

Subscribe, like, and let us know in the comments which car from the collection you’d like us to dive into next.

We’ll catch you in the next one.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
00:17 Master of Puppets
00:37 The Black Pearl
00:59 James Hetfield
01:17 Rick Dore
01:53 The Design Process
02:50 Under the hood
04:42 Accolades

#onlyatthepetersen #CUSTOMCAR #automobile #classiccars #jaguar

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