PAGEG ~ SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2005 f jar.com 2ND OF 2 SECTIONS •••• ..... " }'I"10"I'. * . \ Rock 'n' roll gearhead from Ato ZZ ZZ Top guitarist writes a book CrazY about a sharp-dressed car

JIL MCINTOSH SPECIAL TOTHESTAR appreciates two types offender: the brand ofgui­ tar, and the one he leans on whenever he's home long enough to take one of his hot rods to a car show. The famously bearded front "It was the first one to really man for ZZ Top has combined see the light ofday." both into a book, Billy F Gib­ After a five-year build period, bons:Rock +Roll Gearhead. He'll the carwent directlyto the setof be signing copies at noon this a ZZ Topvideo. "Allthat waiting, Wednesday at Indigo Books & and it was the pretty girls in Music at the Eaton Centre. those videos that got to drive it "They said, 'Let's see ifwe can first!" Gibbons laughs. get Gibbons to do cars and gui­ The car is currently on loan to tars and alittlebitofhistory, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame see what shakes,''' says Gib­ in Cleveland. bons. "Itgives everybody a chance to Shake it does. The oversized get up close and personal with volume is· Gibbons's re­ what has become this icon for collection ofhis four-decade re­ myselfand ZZ Top." cording career, a picture history An equally famous creation, ofsome ofhis mostfamous cars, the stretched-and-lowered and highlights ofthe 600 guitars Cadzzilla, wasn't quite as metic­ he oWns. ulously planned. "I was hanging "At last count I had 70 cars that outwith a couple ofmy pals, late DAVID PERRY PHOTO were ready to roll, gassed up, night in a Mexican cantina, and Gibbons strikes the pose with one of his 70 road-going cars, a '32 Ford roadster that's powered by a rare French-built VB flathead engine. batteries charged and ready to they said, 'What would you do if fire up down the freeway," he you built another car - how While he will get his finger­ but you know, it's just a car ­ about Maybelline and his Coupe "Anybodycanrestore a car, but says. would you eclipse the popular­ nails dirty, Gibbons isn't really a come on," he says. deVille flying over the hill, the ittakes arealman to cut oneup," "I love being a pack rat." ityofthis little red creature (the car builder; most ofhis vehicles He credits his love of hot rods Beach Boys' Little Deuce Coupe. Gibbons says. "I've got thatjok­ The folksy narrative starts Eliminator)?' "Gibbons says. are created by others, most no­ to the recurring theme of cars The cars and the electric guitars er gene that wants me to create with Gibbons's childhood in "After a couple more shots of tablylegendarycustomizerPete and music. "1 always go back to are loud and that's what we find havoc, and it's on constant , Tex., and, makes its tequila, we figured the 1933 is Chapouris and his SO-CAL that term 'fast and furious,' " he most attractive." drone, 24 hours a day. Loud, fast first pit stop at the Eliminator, a short-let's go long, lowand or­ Speed Shop. says. He attributes much ofit to Although touring keeps him and furious automobiles, that's red 1933 Ford that he commis­ ganic. We had run out of bar Unlike many enthusiasts, Gib­ a 1951 record, "Rocket 88," away from his cars much of the my personal preference." sioned after he saw a similar car napkins to draw on, so in the bons isn't a purist, and several named for an Oldsmobile. time, there's always a project in And those famous female legs and wanted one. early wee hours of the morning pages of the book are dedicated "Ever since then, there's been the shop. Currently, it's a 1936 in all ZZ Top's videos? Gibbons "It's hard to say if it's an abso­ we tore offa shirt cuffand drew to his customized BMW 325i. this mysterious, incongruous Ford pickup truck that he's do­ just chuckles. "All curious by­ lute favourite, but it certainly the side view of a 1948 Cadillac, "That's pretty much against coupling of cars, and rock and ing as a "ratrod": rough, rawand standers," he says, "may go di­ got the ball rolling," he says. and that was Cadzzilla" the grain of the European set roll music. Chuck Berry sang without fancy paint or chrome. rectly to page 100."