Beep Beep Mmm Beep Beep YEAH!

The Fabs didn't grow up car crazy. 

England isn't a car culture the way Southern California (Or Texas)  is, and they didn't have the money. At first, Mal Evans drove them everywhere in a crummy van with no heater. 

John had no driver's license until 1965. 

Ringo had a Ford Zephyr for hauling drums 

Apparently, George had a Ford Anglia pre-fame 

Hey, they were Ford guys, like me! 

By their early 20s, they were millionaires. The First Order of Automotive Business was a band limo. What’s an Austin Princess?

George swapped his Anglia for a Jag

Then he bought a second Jag, this one an E-type

And, since being the lead guitarist for the Beatles and driving an E-type Jag wasn’t cool enough, he bought an Aston Martin DB5

Ringo nearly missed an Indianapolis gig when the local coppers treated him to a few race laps around the speedway. Time got away from them, so they screamed along in a flotilla of cruisers, in the nick of time for downbeat.

Meanwhile, at the Lennon household, John passed the exam, and word hit the wires that he was looking for a car. A fleet of Swinging London’s Baddest Rides were presented for consideration. Blind as a bat, and having barely learned to drive, he made the sensible choice. 

A Ferrari.

Later that year, he acquired a snazzy Benz roadster

Predictably, the young, newly moneyed Brit bought a Rolls. Like the Chuck Berry song, “No Money Down”, he specified a double bed, a fridge, a TV, a phone (#Weybridge 46676), and decades ahead of the “Pimp my ride” guys, he got it “Murdered out” in matte black paint. Bored with that by 1967, he painted it psychedelic. He might’ve been high.

The car was later brought to the States where John and Yoko donated it to the Smithsonian for a $225,000 tax credit. 

John must’ve liked limousines. He had a ’56 Bentley 

And one of those super-cool, mile-long Mercedes limos. When he moved to the states, this one transferred to George

“Meeting a man from the motor trade” 

-She’s Leaving Home

That lyric actually refers to Terry Doran, who partnered with Brian Epstein on a Mini Cooper dealership. Eppy ordered four Minis spruced up with wood, wool, and leather interiors; power windows(!); a sunroof; and custom bumper and light treatments. Ringo used his, believe it or not, to carry drums

while George painted his all crazy, and loaned it to John

McCartney developed elegant taste overnight: fine art, the Theatre, and cars like this Aston

and this Lamborghini 

Here’s Paul's Mini...

...which he later totaled. 

Speaking of mishaps, as a superfan of Beatle music, I’m glad that the Germans build ‘em sturdy.

Here’s George’s  

Here’s Ringo’s

It’s not German, but here’s John’s boo-boo

When the Lennons relocated to America, John brought over an old Hearse, and had it outfitted with airplane seats. He might’ve been high.

Californians: Look for it on the road, it’s got the license plate “EMAJUN”. 

I like big crazy old station wagons (You can see the grille of my mom’s 1974 Gran Torino Country Squire in the above photo of my Galaxie 500). John must have, too, because he bought this for rolling around incognito

Ringo’s taste was all over the place, from Facel Vega ...

...to a not-very-collectible Mustang 

George was the real car guy. 

Race cars, really (That's actually him).

Ferraris as daily drivers 

and even as investing partner in a “hypercar”

AFTERWORD: McCartney has lent his name to Lexus Hybrids for environmental reasons; Ringo was recently spotted by our friends at AMagicalHistory Tour in Beverly Hills driving a Mercedes sedan; John’s last car was a 1979 tan Mercedes station wagon; and I like to think of George’s last car as the McLaren used by the “Threetles” in the Anthology videos.