Wednesday, May 6, 2009

John Lennon


John Lennon, originally uploaded by zuctronic.
The Sarasota Classic Car museum had a few of John Lennon's cars on display. First up is the 1956 Bentley SI that John Lennon had custom painted for the Beatles.

John Lennon Designed Psychedelic Bentley

This Bentley was acquired by John Lennon and the Beatles' "Apple Corp". It was painted at John Lennon's supervision by the same firm that painted the front of the Boutique Building in 1967, at the height of the "psychedelic era". This Bentley was often parked in front of "The Apple Tailoring Boutique", owned by Beatles Apple Corp., on Kings Road in London. Lennon was known to frequent the 'after hours' clubs in this Bentley and along with other Rock-n-Roll celebrities of the day, including Jimi Hendrix, and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones.
They also had a couple of John Lennon's personal Mercedes on display. First was his 1965 Mercedes 230SI:


John Lennon's Mercedes

This 1965 Mercedes Benz 230SL was the personal car of John Lennon, a member of the Beatles. The car was ordered through a British dealer, who delivered the car. It is equipped with right-hand steering and modifications to suit British laws. Lennon asked for an automatic transmission. Although not often fitted, his request was honored and the car was so equipped. In the rear seat, you may see an enlarged copy of the registration bearing Lennon's name and address. Although some 20,000 cars of this type were built, this one is unique.
And finally they had on display John Lennon's last car... his 1979 Mercedes-Benz 300TD.


John Lennon's Last Vehicle
1979 Mercedes-Benz 300TD


Manufactured by: Daimler-Benz AG
Place: Stuttgart, Germany
Production: N/A
Body: steel unibody--Daimler-Benz
Chassis: wh.base: 110 in.; lgth: 190.9 in.; wt.: 3635 lbs.
Engine: water-cooled I-5, SOHC
Disp./Power: 183.4 cu. in. / 110 h.p.
Suspension: Front-independent, coil springs
Rear independent swing axles, coil springs
Transmission: automatic to rear axle

The introduction of a turbochrager on the three liter diesel improved the performance. The wagon was introduced in early 1979, and featured an automatic rear load leveler. The sliding roof was standard on the wagon. Although owned by a celebrity, the wagon is completely stock with few options or accessories, the alloy wheels being the only obvious one.

Cost new: $23,900
Poor John only got to drive this car for a year before some jerk shot him in New York. They had a news story posted from the day he was killed:


Dec 8, 1980 - JOHN LENNON GUNNED DOWN ON NEW YORK ST.

Former Beatle JOHN LENNON Was Today Shot & Killed Outside His Manhattan Apt. Sources Said a Lone Gunman Fired Several Bullets Into Lennon's Chest, Causing Immediate Death. No Further Information is Available at This Time

3 comments:

All American Packaging said...

The first Mercedes-Benz 300D automobile was introduced in 1975 (U.S.) and started its life by placing the newly developed 3.0 litre five-cylinder naturally aspirated diesel engine 617.910 in a W115 chassis four-cylinder Mercedes-Benz 240D diesel. For the American market those cars only came with power windows and automatic transmission.

Unknown said...

I actually owned this car briefly. I acquired it in a real estate trade from Dr. Lonnie Hammargren of Las Vegas. He was the neurosurgeon who worked on Evel Knievel after his attempted motorcycle jump of the fountains at Caesar's Palace. My ownership was during the early 1980s, when I sold it to a gentleman who placed it in the ACD Museum in Auburn, Indiana. I'm happy it's in a good home now. -Ken W.

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