John Lennon was regarded as an unassuming type, but he was only human, and occasionally felt the need to express himself in a somewhat outrageous way. As he noted in his autobiography, “I always wanted to be an eccentric millionaire.” In 1965, soon after making a name for himself in the entertainment industry – and discovering the financial rewards that such success afforded – Lennon indulged himself with the purchase of a brand new Rolls-Royce Phantom V limousine.

Presented here is the actual registration card (16x7) used to duly license the vehicle for use on the roads of the United Kingdom. The official certificate – dated June 3, 1965 and bearing all of the appropriate bureaucratic stampings – carries the vibrant and thickly lined, black ink signature of the car’s new owner, John Lennon, in the form’s designated space. The registration certificate displays compacting folds as are customary for glove-box storage, but it remains completely intact and entirely legible.

This offering is an intriguing view into Lennon’s personal life during a period of accelerating growth and change in his path to musical immortality. As his celebrity grew, he found himself performing a role shared by many other stars: responding to requests for his signature on any number of album covers, display pieces, posed photographs, and the like. But an item like this vehicle registration is truly unique, charmingly intimate, and it was at one point essential to his daily, chosen activities. In this way, the piece holds a special sort of appeal for those seeking closeness to the man within the star.

Lennon enjoyed his Rolls for a time, even though he preferred having a chauffeur do the day-to-day driving. Additionally, although the Rolls’ color is listed as, “Black,” on this registration form, John soon treated the vehicle to a new paint job by a custom coachbuilder. The car was totally transformed at this stage, going from the conservative, factory-original treatment to an outlandish and kaleidoscopic, totally garish “psychedelic” motif featuring scrollwork, flowers, neon hues and swirls. Lennon was involved in an automobile accident in 1967, while driving another car, and at that point began to lose interest in his one-of-a-kind Rolls. He relinquished the vehicle in 1977, but this piece of official, signed paperwork survives to remind the world of John Lennon’s direct connection to a singular motor car that became a part of the Beatles’ legend. This item comes with a LOA from PSA/DNA (Z00126).

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