When Metallica's James Hetfield isn't playing music he likes to unwind with heavy metal of another sort.
A lifelong car enthusiast, Hetfield has spent much of his free time over the last 30 years restoring, rebuilding or in some cases reinventing old automobiles.
Hetfield's first public appearance this year (since Metallica's fall 2019 tour dates were canceled) was at a car event promoting the opening of his Reclaimed Rust exhibit at Los Angeles' Petersen Automotive Museum.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's collection includes a number of "bespoke vehicles" that were built from scratch by Hetfield and various professional builders. Others were revivals of old discarded cars.
In May, Hetfield likened the process of reviving an old car to that of using a guitar for its intended purpose.
"I think an old guitar is sitting there with songs still in it, waiting for someone to pick it up and breathe life into it again," the frontman said. So that's what I love. And I've done that with many of these cars. I've seen cars sitting in a field in Kansas and thinking, 'They've got a story to tell, still. Let's bring this thing back to life. Like a rebirth."
Now, the Petersen Museum has released a near-half-hour long documentary showing everything Hetfield donated to the museum. You can watch it in the player above.
Hetfield recently put his welding skills to work when he built a set of custom coffee tables that were to be raffled off to fans who donated to the band's All Within My Hands charity foundation.
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