Eddie Van Halen's Easter Egg-Filled Porsche Is Up for Auction

It’s no secret that the late Eddie Van Halen was a real-deal car guy. You can’t fake it when you’re behind the wheel of a V12-powered Ferrari on the racetrack, and he’s got endless cred for featuring the sound of his own Lamborghini Miura in one of Van Halen’s most popular songs. But while he had a penchant for Italian supercars, one of his favorite vehicles ever was German.

According to Mecum Auctions, Eddie Van Halen was a downright “Porschephile,” as evidenced by his 2016 Porsche 911 GT3 RS that is going up for sale May 20 at the company’s Indianapolis auction. Not only is this model Porsche an absolute monster — a street-legal version of a Porsche designed for racing — but Van Halen had this specific car customized with a number of performances and aesthetic upgrades. This isn’t just a car with a famous provenance; it still features all the fingerprints of that ownership.

Van Halen and the Craziest, Most Debaucherous Party of 1984

“Lost Weekend” directors Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb on all the sex, drugs and rock and roll you’d expect from Diamond Dave and Co.

From the Porsche factory, Van Halen ordered this 911 in GT Silver exterior paint with matching silver stitching throughout the interior, while the black wheels are matched to black leather and Alcantra fabrics inside. Look down to the door sill plates, though, and you’ll see that the carbon fiber is etched with an illuminated version of Van Halen’s “VH” logo.

Yes, Van Halen knew this was going to be a special car. In fact, after he bought it, he even did an interview with Car and Driver just to gush about its performance.

“For one, it’s just so light. But really, it’s the handling. I don’t know how Porsche did it. We raced in the rain at Buttonwillow [in California], which is my favorite track. We raced in the fucking rain and we never lost it, never spun out,” he told the magazine. “It’s the first time ever I’ve been able to four-wheel-drift a Porsche. Every other Porsche I’ve ever had, I’ve spun them all.”

You’ll find the Van Halen logo on the Porsche’s door sill plates.

Courtesy of Mecum Auctions

Not all of the credit for the handling can go to Porsche, though. For this build, Van Halen had BBI Autosport, an aftermarket tuning shop in Huntington Beach that specializes in the German brand’s vehicles, make some suspension modifications that would further enhance the racing performance of the 911 GT3 RS. And race it, he did. When this car was originally offloaded by Van Halen in July 2020, just three months before he died of a stroke after a battle with cancer, the odometer read 15,188 miles. No garage queen, that. (The car now has 16,168 miles, having racked up 1,000 more under the ownership of current seller Chris Bishop.)

And that’s not all. This Porsche comes with a number of authentication documents, including a title that shows Eddie Van Halen’s ownership and a certificate of authenticity with the guitarist’s signature. Potentially more precious for the Van Halen fan is what you’ll find when scrolling through the infotainment system: tap through to the cell phone device list, and Eddie’s numbers still show up.

This modern, track-dominating Porsche certainly isn’t as evocative of Van Halen’s music as a retro Miura, but if you want a vehicle that’s intimately tied to the life of Eddie Van Halen, you won’t find one better. The estimated selling price for this piece of memorabilia? In the ballpark of $200,000 to $225,000.