IT’S THE ZZ-PORSCHE!

Every July ZZ Top crosses the pond to hit the roads of old Europe for their Summer tour, writes Bernard Moix. I usually join the band for one or more shows depending on their schedule and mine. Billy F. Gibbons and I have been friends for almost 25 years, bound by our passion for guitars, cars and custom designs in general. I customised a guitar for him in 1996 based on his 1950 Ford Copperhead, using actual leftover parts from the original car with the help of Pete Chapouris at So-cal Speed Shop who had built it.

July 2017 was no exception for the boyzz and the band stopped at the Sierre Blues Festival for their only Swiss appearance of the Summer. Sierre is only 10 miles from my hometown of Sion. It felt natural to join them in our 1955 Porsche, as Billy had often been asking about it.

When the time came to have lunch I proposed to go to the ski resort of Crans-montana. Of course Billy chose to go in the Porsche. After a 40-minute ride we enjoyed the fresh air at 3000 feet and had lunch at the Lake Moubra where Billy enjoyed a selection of Swiss cheese (which he loves…). Then we took a tour of the station and did some shopping before driving back down to the venue.

Billy asked lots of questions about the Porscheʼs history and loved the ʻHollywoodʼ Panamericana deco. The car never took part in the race, but he was enthusiastic about the period correct details such as Mexican Christ image on the dashboard, rosary hanging from the rear view mirror and homemade decals and signwriting.

BFG used to have a custom Oval window VW as well as a couple of Speedster replicas back in the day and I can tell he really loved the feel of the car. Will the next ZZ car be based on a Porsche 356? Weʼll have to wait and see…