Cars can serve as the perfect billboards for promoting a message or brand, and Bentleys are no exception. Most famous of all was an S1 owned by The Beatles, as Review reports. Images: Courtesy of Internet, Phil Kroll, Alan Minchin, Tim Dunlop and Bentley Motors

Imagine a pristine Bentley daubed in a garish colour scheme. Sacrilege? Maybe… but some cars have been subjected to the artist’s brush, mainly to make a public statement or simply to catch the eye. Most notable among this number is arguably a stately 1956 S1 standard steel saloon. Its registration number is 222 APL – and therein lies the real clue to its true identity. Older Members of the Club, particular those with memories of the celebrated ‘Swinging Sixties’, will immediately recognise the psychedelically patterned vehicle in our images – dubbed the ‘Beatles Bentley’. In a period when the worlds of fashion and music collided, the car was used by the Fab Four – John, Paul, George and Ringo – as their stylish runaround as they cruised around London’s fashionable haunts.

The artwork was designed to reflect the hippy-ness of the Swinging Sixties

Owned by well-known 1960s fashion entrepreneur John Crittle, renowned for his elaborate psychedelic tailoring, the Australian was the proprietor of the well patronised Dandie Fashions on the King’s Road, a boutique clothing store which dressed the big pop stars of the day. In 1966, Crittle snapped up the car, previously owned by the Countess of Middleton, as a fun party machine in which to chauffeur friends, clients, and the rich and famous – such as members of the Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix and Beatle John Lennon – to and from clubs, parties, shops and their homes around the West End and Chelsea.


In keeping with the striking décor of the Dandie storefront, Crittle commissioned BEV (art students Douglas Binder, Dudley Edwards and David Vaughn) to perform a similar job on his sedate S1. After all, it pays to stand out on the King’s Road… Reflecting the free-thinking and hippy attitudes of the times, the trio decorated the bodywork in swirly patterns and shapes in an array of 12 vibrant colours. And it wasn’t just the exterior of the car which was flamboyant. The inside boasted similarly bold hues, with purple leather seats and a pink rug. Thanks to a mutual link with Crittle’s business backer and socialite Tara Browne – the Guinness heir who supplied the Beatles with clothes – the pop group, with Lennon a particular fan of Crittle’s fashions, absorbed Dandie into its Apple Corps (AC) company which had been formed in 1968; the store was renamed Apple Tailoring and the S1, whose registration number now (coincidentally?) reflected its new ownership, was also listed on the AC balance sheet.

So it was that John, Paul, George and Ringo were frequently spotted lounging in 222 APL as they were ferried around the Capital’s hot spots. And the S1 was quickly tagged the ‘Beatles Bentley’. All good things eventually come to an end, however, and as the Swinging Sixties faded into the Seventies, and with Apple Tailoring having closed down (after only a few short months), the Beatles Bentley eventually moved into new hands. The car remains, however, as an existing and tangible reminder of those times, and has since been shown off at various museums. Around a decade ago, the Sarasota Classic Car Museum in Florida displayed the car while its current home is the Alabama-based Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum (www.barbermuseum.org) which has owned and showcased the S1 for the last three years.

Legal letter authenticating the Beatles Bentley 

 

PAINT YOUR WAGON

It’s not just the Beatles Bentley that has sported a multicoloured design – other Bentleys have also been similarly adorned.

The Art Car, a Continental GT V8 S Convertible, is the world’s first pop art Bentley thanks to the creative brushwork of celebrated artist Sir Peter Blake, the godfather of British pop art and famed for designing the iconic sleeve for The Beatles’ legendary Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. It is owned by former Club Member Charlie Porter who purchased the Conti GT in 2016 after Bentley Motors sold it at auction to raise funds for the Care2Save charitable trust which provides palliative and hospice care. The colours used in Sir Peter’s collage-led bodywork design pays homage to these hospices, with the interior trimmed in similarly bold hues. Many Club Members will have spotted the Art Car at various BDC Concours d’Elegance in the recent past, notably at Sudeley Castle (2017) and Blenheim Palace (2019).

The striking Unifying Flying Spur, which acted as a course car at BDC Silverstone last year, showcases body artwork designed to highlight Bentley Motors’ recently introduced diversity and inclusion strategy. Conceived by Rich Morris, of the Bentley Motors design team, the creation is a piece of four-wheeled art showcasing the nine colours of the Progress flag.

the Mulliner Bacalar. The artwork – designed by an employee as part of a competition – highlights the company’s interpretation of the rainbow-coloured symbol of hope which has become familiar during the Covid-19 pandemic. Seven shades of Bentley’s unique and vibrant paint palette were used to create the evocative colour scheme.

Tasteful design to make your Bentley stand out is one thing… but graffiti? Well, it works for the Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois in Basle. The Swiss establishment commissioned leading graffiti artist Thierry Furger, in conjunction with local children, to spray-paint its 2006 Arnage guest limousine using its corporate colours. The media and art cultural school project was designed to ‘reflect a blend of over 300 years of [the hotel’s] history with a vibrant presence’.

 

Thank you to the Bentley Drivers Club (BDC) for giving us kind permission to use this article on our website.

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