37 years ago today, John Lennon’s psychedelically-styled Rolls Royce limousine sold at a Sotheby’s auction in New York for a record $3,006,385.
Canadian billionaire Jim Pattinson was the man who bought the car, which became the most expensive car in the world once he purchased it.
The limo was used by the Beatles for their trip to Buckingham Palace in 1965. Back then it was painted black with some of the first-ever tinted windows in the world, which you can see in the clip below.
Lennon got it repainted in 1967, around the same time The Beatles’ classic album ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ was released. He also customised the back of the car that year, replacing the seats with a bed and installing a television.
The car now belongs to the Royal British Columbia Museum in Canada, where Paul Ferguson, the museum curator, is in charge of the historic vehicle, now valued at around NZ$8.7million.
Ferguson, talking to CTVNews, said people connect with the car because of their collective admiration of its former owner.
He continued: "When people come here who knew the music well, it provides an avenue for people to speak - to speak to their family, to speak to people who didn’t even know about the Beatles.”
