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Beautiful car, isn’t it? This car was manufactured in
1965 by the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited, Crewe, Cheshire. The car was
fitted with a limousine body by Mulltner Park Ward and finished in
Valentines Black.
When completed, the Phantom V was then delivered to John
Lennon on June 3, 1965 with the license plate number being FJB111C. A
guarantee was issued to John Lennon on 10 June 1965. The car measured 19
feet long and weighed three tons.
On December 21, 1965, John ordered a Sterno Radio
Telephone and the number WEYBRIDGE 46676 assigned to it.
In 1966, the car had the rear seat modified to convert to
a double bed. A custom interior/exterior sound system was installed along
with a "loud hailer." Other features that John Lennon had installed at
this time were: Sony television; telephone and a portable refrigerator. On
January 7, the car went in for a mileage check and the odometer had
recorded 6,673 miles and on March 28, that same year, the car clocked in
at 11,181 miles. Later, on February 4, in 1967, the odometer would record
29,283 miles clocked on the Rolls-Royce. Interestingly enough, John had
his chauffeur and car sent over to Spain in 1966, while he was filming
"How I Won the War". It was reported that his Rolls-Royce Phantom V was
painted with a matt black overall, which included the radiator and chrome
trim.
But John eventually became restless with the "matt black
overall" on the car and so in April of 1967, he took it upon himself to
visit J.P. Fallon Limited, a coachworks company located in Chertsey,
Surrey. He had in mind the possibility of having his car painted
"psychedelic". This was based on an idea by Marijke Koger ("The
Fool" who was a member of Dutch team of
gypsy artists). After discussing the idea, J.P. Fallon Limited commissioned
Steve Weaver's pattern of scroll and flowers for the Phantom V.
The cost for
having the work done came in at £2,000 (or about $4,200 Cdn) and the car
was
painted by the original gypsies who made the gypsy wagon that was
in Lennon's garden (see Adam
Bloomfield's e-mail below.)
John’s newly painted psychedelic car drew some public
outrage when a old woman, in London’s downtown, attacked the car using her
umbrella and yelling: "You swine, you swine! How dare you do this to a
Rolls-Royce." Obviously, the Rolls-Royce is passionately regarded in
England as one of the many symbols of British dignity!
The Beatles used the Rolls exclusively in their heyday
from 1966 to 1969.
In 1970, John Lennon and Yoko Ono had the Phantom V
shipped to the United States. The car was loaned out to several rock stars
such as the Rolling Stones, the Moody Blues, and Bob Dylan. When the car
was available, the Lennon’s seldom used it and so consideration was given
to sell it to an American buyer -- but a deal never materialized. As a
result, the car was put into storage in New York City.
Then in December, 1977, John and Yoko had serious
problems with the United States Internal Revenue. The couple arranged to
have a deal worked out where they would donate the car to the
Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York City, a part of the Smithsonian
Institute, for a $225,000 tax credit.
From October 3, 1978 to January 7, 1979, the car was put
on public display at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum and then returned to storage
at Silver Hill, Maryland. There, the car would remain in storage and kept
from public viewing for a while. The reason for this was because the
museum could not afford the insurance coverage for public viewing on a
full-time basis.
On June 29, 1985, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum decided to
auction the car off through Sotheby’s. Before the auction began, The
Rolls-Royce Phantom V was estimated by Sotheby's to fetch between $200,000
to $300,000 (U.S.). When the car was sold, it pulled in a surprising
$2,299,000 (U.S.) and was purchased by Mr. Jim Pattison’s Ripley
International Inc., of South Carolina for exhibition at Ripley’s "Believe
It Or Not" museum. The purchase of the Phantom V through Sotheby’s
resulted it being listed as the most expensive car in the world and
installed with the South Carolina license plates LENNON.
The Phantom V was then loaned to Expo ‘86 in Vancouver
(Chairman: Mr. Jim Pattison) for exhibition. The American title was
transferred from Ripley International Inc. to Jim Pattison Industries
Ltd., in Canada (Mr. Jim Pattison is a well-known British Columbia
business man.)
In 1987, Mr. Pattison presented the car as a gift to Her
Majesty in Right of the Province of British Columbia and displayed in the
Transportation Museum of British Columbia at Cloverdale (near Vancouver).
Then, in 1993, the car was transferred from the
Transportation Museum and sent to the Royal British Columbia Museum in
Victoria, British Columbia. Here the car would be kept for secure storage,
displayed only for fund-raising and occasional use. The car was serviced
and maintained by Bristol Motors of Victoria.
In order to protect the paint work on John Lennon's
famous Rolls-Royce Phantom V, the Royal Royal British Columbia
Museum requested that the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) do a paint
analysis on the car. Here are the test results as reported from the CCI:
"Samples were mounted as
cross sections to determine the structure of the paint layers. Paint
chips were also analysed using Fourier transform infrared
spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray microanalysis, and polarized
light microscopy. The analysis revealed that both cellulose nitrate
and an oil-modified alkyd resin media had been used and that the
surface of the paint had been coated with an oil-modified alkyd
resin varnish. A colourful array of pigments was identified,
including chrome yellow, titanium white, ultramarine blue, and
toluidine red.
"Based on the materials
identified, cleaning and waxing the car was recommended; the
analysis showed there was nothing in the paint that would be harmed
by water or by the application of a protective wax coating. To
minimize damage to the varnish and painted surface, it was also
recommended that the car not be exposed to direct sunlight for long
periods as this could cause deterioration of both the cellulose
nitrate and the alkyd resin." However, over the years the car has had some paint
cracking on the original top coat. Restoration work was applied.
Click on this link to see the before and after results: http://www.bristolmotors.com/rolls.html From 9 March 1996 to 15
September 1996, John Lennon’s Rolls-Royce Phantom V was displayed at
the National Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa, with as
passenger a sculpture of John by Joanne
Sullivan.
"During the making of
Sergeant Pepper John decided to have the Rolls-Royce painted.
Colour and design were of the utmost priority and he employed a firm
of barge and caravan designers to do it for him. The idea came to
him when he bought an old gypsy caravan for the garden." - Researched by John Whelan, Additional material, April 28,
2001, from promotional flyers issued by the Ottawa Museum of Science and
Technology in 1996 and with one final update entered to this page on March
24, 2003, culled from the Canadian Conservation Institute at: http://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/whats-new/news21/lennon_e.shtml
On June 19 2008, we received the following message.
To: northern_reflection@msn.com Dear Mr Whelan.
I have just read with interest your
feature on the psychedelic Rolls Royce of John Lennon and thought you may
be interested in some more recent additional information I have relating
to the concept, design and production of its paint work. Inevitably the
reality differs somewhat from the myth that surrounds the identity of the
artist who created the design. I researched the history to establish the
provenance of the original design proof that I was given following the
death of my father-in-law and to establish the actual events. The
internet, The UK Public Records Office and The Royal British Columbia
Museum were all very helpful in leading me to the actual events.
The
inspiration for the design came from Marijke Koger, one of the design
collective 'The Fool' who were responsible for numerous seminal pieces of
the period and were very influential in the psychedelic art movement. Marjke emailed me about the design; “I was staying at John's house in 68
[she miss-states the date] to paint his piano and he had a painted gypsy
wagon in is garden. I suggested to him that he paint the Rolls like the
gypsy wagon, which he thought was a great idea so he contacted the genuine
gypsies who made the wagon and they actually did the painting on the
Rolls.” Marijke Koger was
apparently unaware of who actually painted the Rolls Royce as it was local
artist Steve Weaver who created the design for John to realised his
vision. He clearly liked Weaver's design, as this was then painted on
John's Rolls Royce by Weaver at the JP Falon, Coachbuilders works. Weaver
was paid £290 for his artwork. Steve Weaver
is now deceased so he can't tell his own story. However his daughter
remembers the time and she confirmed that the design painting I have is
the original that was prepared for Lennon by her father. Weaver's daughter
was interested in my father-in-law's connection to her father, and
revealed that he “had a younger man help him with the car”. It is quite
possible that this was my father-in-law, also an accomplished artist who
was working in the area at that time. I met
with Weaver's daughter who was delighted to see the design again and
provided me with documents to support the story and authenticate the
design. They consist of: a signed authentication by the artist’s daughter; a photographic copy of Weaver’s £290 invoice for work and materials dated
May 24th 1967; a photographic copy of an application to the Patent Office
to register the design, dated 19th June 1967 signed by the artist; an
email from Marijke Koger commenting on the origins of the work. I
have attached a photograph of the artwork and a couple of the other pieces
for your interest. It measures 24" x 36" (600mm x 900mm) and is in
'as-found' condition as you can see. Please feel free to contact me if
you'd like to use any of this on your website or if you'd like any more
background info. Kind regards
1st update was done April 28, 2001;
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