Rock & Rollers...and Bentleys, and Astons: Who had the best cars, the Beatles or the Stones?
On the Beatles side, there’s no denying Paul McCartney’s taste. On the Stones side? Brian Jones ran a Rolls-Royce while Mick Jagger ran a Bentley
FAB FOUR: Of the four, George Harrison was the most enthusiastic driver. John Lennon didn't pass his test until 1965 - seen here celebrating in the EMI car park. This Triumph Herald convertible would be worth around £30,000 if it surfaced today
'Imagine sitting at a dinner party and casually mentioning that your Aston Martin DB6 was once owned by Mick Jagger,’ says Aston specialist Nicholas Mee. ‘Anyone would be impressed.’
The Beatles and Stones were friends and rivals – but which had the best garage?
On the Beatles side, there’s no denying Paul McCartney’s taste. In addition to his Aston Martins, in 1968 he bought a Lamborghini 400GT 2+2, the motor that launched a supercar brand.
PAUL McCARTNEY: McCartney bought his first Aston Martin, a DB5, for £4,249 in 1964. That sold last October for £344,000. This is his 1966 DB6, a car now part of Aston Martin's heritage fleet
JOHN LENNON: John Lennon Probably the most famous car in rock is Lennon's Phantom V, painted in 'Romany caravan' colours by Marijke Koger, a member of the Dutch art collective known as 'The Fool'
RINGO STARR: Every Beatle bought a Mini in the Sixties as everyday runarounds. Starr's luxury car was a Facel Vega II, a French 6.7--litre grand tourer halfway between an Aston and a Bentley and currently worth about £250,000
George Harrison was another Aston DB5 owner before developing a taste for Ferraris. A highlight of his collection was the 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB he bought new for £5,700, a car worth £750,000-850,000 today.
As well as his famous psychedelic Rolls, Lennon had at least one Iso Fidia, Grifo or Rivolta and in February 1970 bought a white Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman.
Each Beatle also commissioned a Mini de Ville from London coachbuilder Harold Radford. Both Harrison and Lennon had theirs painted with psychedelic motifs.
MICK JAGGER: The singer was with Chrissie Shrimpton in September 1966 when he pranged his Aston Martin DB6. 'I only bought the car three months ago,' Mick said. 'The damage is going to cost about £200'
MICK JAGGER: The singer with Marianne Faithfull in his Morgan V8
On the Stones side? Brian Jones ran a Rolls-Royce while Mick Jagger ran a Bentley. Jagger snapped up a midnight-blue Aston DB6 similar to McCartney’s, and crashed it shortly after in central London.
Keith Richards’ garage at times included a WWII German army staff car, a Ferrari Dino and a Jaguar E-type.
But his most celebrated car was ‘Blue Lena’, the Bentley Continental Flying Spur in which in 1967 he went on a ‘moonlight flit’ to Morocco with Anita Pallenberg.
The car, complete with record player, secret compartments and diplomats’ flag holder, now lives in London. Wouldn’t Bentley like to use it to tie in with its launch of the new Flying Spur?
By Steve Wakefield of classicdriver.com
KEITH RICHARDS: Richards with his 1966 S3 Bentley Continental Flying Spur 'Blue Lena', named after jazz singer Lena Horne, in which he drove to Morocco in 1967 with Anita Pallenberg and Brian Jones, her boyfriend at the outset but by their return she was with Keith
BILL WYMAN: Ever the in-the-shadows bass player Wyman clearly preferred the more modest appeal of an MGB, a £1,000 British sports car worth - even with his name attached - little more than £15,000 today
