Hello, and may I say thank you for taking the time to read a little mans cry about cars and rock stars.

In this issue of The Devil’s Steed, I would like to talk about the most outrageous drivers in the world of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Please note that the following individuals are not ranked according to their insanity and lack of sensibilities when it comes to their driving. That would be wrong.

5

Marilyn Manson

Manson enters the list as he auctioned his first car, a 1986 red Fiero coupe 2D, which was given to him as a high school graduation gift. When the car was auctioned, Manson had the interior of the car filled with his T-shirts, CD’s, and posters as special goodies for the buyer.

On a more gruesome note, Manson was alleged to have given Jennifer Syme, a former girlfriend of actor Keanu Reeves, instructions to drive her self home after a party at his place; which resulted in her death when she crashed into a lot of parked cars. Manson denies all allegations and says that she was sent home with a designated driver.

4

Yngwie Malmsteen

The neo classical guitar god enters this list for two reasons

01.  His Jaguar E-Type

02.  His 1983 Ferrari GTS QV

The Jag is special because it’s the car that he crashed into a tree in 1987. This accident put him into a coma for a week and also caused nerve damage to his right hand. But in an interview for Modern Guitars Magazine, Malmsteen in true Yngwie fashion had this to say: “The injury was very very small. It was a very momentary thing. You know, it was scary and fucked up and all that shit. So I bought even more, faster cars after that.” If not for his mother passing away from cancer during his tenure at the hospital, this would have been the perfect rock ‘n’ roll anecdote for Malmsteen’s grand children.  But Yngwie, you are god-like with your playing and you have the right attitude when it comes to cars. So good on you mate.

And as for his Ferrari, it was an 18 year old love story after he first laid eyes on it in the showroom of Prestige Imports in North Miami Beach, Florida, during recordings for the album ‘Eclipse.’ It was lust at first sight and Yngwie simply walked in, paid cash and drove off in it. The car was since at the center of his love for Ferrari’s. He auctioned the car on ebay in 2007 for 25,100 dollars. The listing didn’t say if the car would help the buyer ‘unleash the fucking fury.’

3

Vince Neil

Vince Neil is one bad ass rock star. And what would such a man ride on? The most vicious of all vehicles of course: The Harley Davidson Motor Cycle. And this is a man who cares about his rides. In fact, he cares so much, that he can’t be separated from them. So what does he do when he’s off touring around the world? He takes them with him. Yes he takes some of his best rides with him so he can ride them where ever he wants, as if the distractions of the free flowing rivers of alcohol and the even faster flowing streams of groupies weren’t enough to occupy him.

His devotion to his motorcycles aside, Vince Neil is still haunted by the devastating car crash in which close pal Razzle Dingley from Hanoi Rocks was killed. The crash happened when Vince’s car, on the way back from a booze run, skidded on a patch of water and crashed into oncoming traffic leaving Vince practically unscathed, the other passengers with serious bone damage and Razzle dead on the spot.  Vince has confessed that he feels the prison term he served for his part in the accident wasn’t tough enough. The Mötley Crüe front-man spent 30 days in jail and was fined $2.5 million (GBP1.3 million) for a DUI. Vince insists he should have been more severely punished, and now feels he literally got away with murder.

2

Elvis Presley

The King was not just infamous for his sultry tones and grinding moves onstage, but also for his love of exotic automobiles and his fascination with guns. In fact, at the time of his death he owned an incredible 37 guns and rifles and also a machine gun! Sadly the trigger happy tendency The King had, combined with his habit of carrying a revolver around wherever he went did not bode well to his collection of automobiles. According to an eyewitness account by Gorge Klein, Elvis was once so annoyed with his 1971 De Tomaso Pantera because it wouldn’t start, that he took out his revolver and shot it thrice in a fit of rage. The car actually did start after a battery change and a second try. Another associate of The King, the songwriter and member of Elvis’s backing group Sweet Inspirations, Myrna Smith, tells how Elvis once took her out for a hair-raising spin in the Pantera, driving errantly simply to scare her. He completed the shock treatment by screeching to a halt in his Graceland driveway and shooting the car’s dashboard for not running well.

On a note completely unrelated to his driving sensibilities; or lack there of; The King was known to pull out his revolver and shoot his TV sets if either Robert Goulet  or  Mel Torme appeared onscreen. Oh the decadent pleasures of being a king!

1

Ozzy Osbourne

Although I said that this list is not ranked, I personally feel that this man takes the cake as the most outrageous driver of them all. In October of 2009, Ozzy Osbourne finally got his driving license at the age of 60. Apparently he had been denied his license 19 times before, because he had showed up for his driving test intoxicated! Still Ozzy’s wife has said that she won’t hesitate to get into a car that her husband is driving. And although he is now legally allowed to get behind the wheel, Ozzy admits that he has illegally driven with his wife Sharon, on numerous occasions, and was even arrested once. He is quoted as saying “I bought a brand new Mercedes AMG and took Sharon to Tramps club. I drank a load of alcohol and then went down a one-way street the wrong way. I got arrested. It’s not everyday you go out in a brand new Mercedes and come home in a police van.” Ah for a glimpse inside that mans psyche!

Photo Credit – createordie/ Huro Kitty/ alterna2 / skylarneil/ fabio ikezaki/ TheFaithful