Motor City-driven music(ians)

Paul Lamb: Harper Woods Heroes

Paul Lamb is the semi-legendary blues-and-country guitarist with his own Harper Woods Heroes. The band is all set to release their second album in February, though the title has yet to be confirmed. Paul is also playing a show at Paycheck’s in Hamtramck on Friday, January 16. Find out more at www.p-a-u-lmusic.com

What is the best car that you’ve owned?
I’ve owned a lot of cars. I had a 1970 Cadillac two-door Deville that was just awesome. I lowered it and when I sold it, the guy that bought it turned it into a monster truck to race against Big Foot. It got like four miles to the gallon.

I bought a Ford Explorer for $700 and it came with two dirt bikes thrown in. I haven’t as much as had to change a tire on that car, too.

And the worst?
I had a Dodge Spirit when it had one of the first turbo engines in it. If you got into the turbo, it would instantly overheat. I was in Phoenix at the time, too, so it was like 120 degrees. As soon as I got to 60 mph, it would overheat and the car would start smoking.

That wasn’t the absolute worst though. I had a ’64 Falcon with no windshield. It had no ignition so I had to hot-wire it every time. And so that people wouldn’t steal it, I put a kill switch under the seat. One time, I was at Western Union and I saw this little dude stealing my car. When he started it, it would die and he was literally bouncing it down the street. I had a Sanyo take box taped to the dashboard, and I had to wear goggles because it didn’t have a windshield.

What do you drive now?
Right now, I have a ’05 Cadillac Deville and I love it.

Can you think of a funny or crazy story, something that happened to you while driving?
I was driving from Phoenix to Denver while on tour and we had to go through the mountains. We had so much gear and the band in the car and in a trailer that the transmission died and the back of the van was coated with red transmission fluid. We kept having to stop and put quarts and quarts of transmission fluid in.

So we got this idea that if we drilled a hole in the dashboard and put a funnel with a tube from the dashboard to the transmission intake, we could pour it in while riding shotgun. We got it to Denver and then sold it for scrap parts.