THE MYSTERY OF JIM MORRISON’S ‘BLUE LADY’

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I’ve been a fan of The Doors since the first time I heard ‘Light My Fire’.

This song came out during a very dynamic era of music, but no band sounded like The Doors.

Jim Morrison was the heart of The Doors, and everyone recognized him as a rock star—but no one saw him as a car guy.

Jerry Sutherland

In fact, I didn’t even know he owned a car until about 15 years ago when I hear about his Mustang. It was a Nightmist Blue 1967 Shelby GT500, so it was a rare version of a rare car. These brutes came with a 428-cubic-inch V-8 that pumped out a conservatively-rated 335 horsepower.

Jimmy’s car was a four-speed manual–its paint and its options made it rare in world where Shelby only built approximately 2000 of these juiced-up pony cars. The parchment interior was far less common on a Nightmist Blue ‘67 GT500 because most of them had black interiors.

Morrison’s Shelby GT500 was an early model, so it had the round dual fog lights mounted in the center of the grille. Later versions had rectangular lights mounted closer to edge of the grille thanks to clearly-defined federal rules on headlights.  Jimmy’s car was also missing the horizontal stripe down the length of the car. In other words, this would be a Holy Grail Saturday night car at a major auction—even without The Doors’ connection.      

The story behind the car goes down many different roads, so it’s hard to pinpoint the truth– but one story is consistent. The car may have been a gift from Jac Holzman (Elektra Records Founder and President) to celebrate The Doors’ (and Elecktra’s) first number one record.  

Holzman was so happy with their success he allegedly offered the band member’s anything they wanted, so Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek chose high-end reel-to-reel tape recorders while John Densimore chose a horse.

Jim Morrison picked a more powerful horse in the form of the ’67 GT500 because his buddy Jay Sebring had a GT350. Jimmy was hooked on the car the first time he saw it–so he stuck Holzman with the bill for his GT500.

That part of the GT500 story is probably true. Morrison named it ‘The Blue Lady’ after a character in a movie script he was writing. The name may have come from Jimmy’s girlfriend at the time—there are many moving parts to this story.

The rest of the story gets murkier, but one thing is clear. Morrison pounded on his Mustang and one story that keeps coming up is his famous crash on Sunset Boulevard. He is supposed to have staggered to the Whisky-a-Go-Go after taking out a telephone pole down the street.

Reports at the time suggested Jim had many misadventures with his GT500–and given his lifestyle, they’re probably based on fact.

The car was never registered after 1969. In fact, ‘The Blue Lady’ disappeared off the planet and that’s when the rumors kick in nearly 60 years later. The most common story says Jimmy left the car at the airport and never reclaimed it–so it was seized. He rented cars after the Mustang disappeared.

Other stories suggest the GT500 was written off and baled in 1969. Then there are the true believers who suggest the car was bought and sold many times over the years, because even then, a ‘67 GT500 was a blue-chip car—immune to the jaws of a metal shredder.

Finally, there are guys who claim they own Jimmy’s legendary GT500 because they rebuilt one that had frame damage consistent with several crashes.

I’m a typical car guy so I’m optimistic Jimmy’s Mustang is still around—just like the first car I ever owned is still around.

We live on dreams in the Car Guy World.

Jerry Sutherland

By: Jerry Sutherland

Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post,  Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.

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