TACOMA, Wash. — "The first thing that caught my eye was the color," Donna Lotton tells her husband Ron. "And the second thing was the curve of the fenders. It screams, 'put a lady in the car!'"
The couple are celebrating their anniversary by visiting Reclaimed Rust: The James Hetfield Collection at LeMay-America's Car Museum in Tacoma.
"My husband is a car nerd," Donna Lotton said.
The collection of ten custom-made cars will appeal to everyone with an eye for art. There's The Voodoo Priest, a cherry red re-imagined 1937 Lincoln Zephyr. There's Str8 Edge, a highly modified '56 Ford F100. And a few steps away, there's Skyscraper, a '53 Buick Skylark considered ultra-modern in its day.
"We are really excited about having this exhibit here," said Renee Crist who has many responsibilities at LeMay, including driving the cars to their spots in the museum.
The exhibit features custom cars dreamt up by the Metallica frontman who donated the collection to Petersen Automotive Museum. James Hetfield remembered his dad always tinkering around in the garage in a video produced by Petersen.
"There was always a creative flow in that house that just got me excited," he said. "Things were happening either in the music room or the garage. Those are the two exciting places for me to be."
Now James Hetfield is sharing his cars with the world. Many are designs he drew up himself.
"There's not one that is like the other," Crist said. "So they are all individual, one-off creations."
Inspired by Art Deco, the cars feature accents like rear fins that hide the back wheels. Some cars have unique paint jobs. Not one has door handles. It's all about accentuating the streamlined look.
"You gotta look at the headlamps," Crist said. "They are all different, all custom, all beautifully designed."
Even sitting still, the cars look like they're ready to hit the road at a high rate of speed.
And that has the Lotton couple thinking.
"So do you think we can hop in and takeoff?" Ron Lotton asks. " How far do you think we'll get?"
"We can do anything," his wife responds. "It's our anniversary."
Reclaimed Rust: The James Hetfield Collection is on display at LeMay-America's Car Museum through Jan. 22, 2023.
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