FAMOUS FACES
Incredible rare Mercedes owned by THREE music legends goes up for sale – and it’s set to fetch an eye-watering price
John Lennon sold the motor to his pal George Harrison
AN incredibly rare Mercedes that was owned by three music legends has gone up for sale and is set to fetch an eye-watering price.
The star-studded 600 Pullman was bought new by John Lennon in 1970 but has also been owned by his mate George Harrison and The Supremes' Mary Wilson.
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The car is rare in its own right, as one of only 39 right-hand drive, four-door Pullmans ever produced, but its celebrity line-up of owners adds another dimension.
The vehicle, which was fully restored at the Mercedes-Benz factory by its previous owner, is now being sold by supercar dealer Tom Hartley Jnr.
Lennon ordered the new 600 Pullman in late 1969 and opted for musical extras including a Blaupunkt radio, Pioneer tape recorder and a Philips-Mignon record player as well as a number of loudspeakers to create an impressive sound system.
He also requested partition glass between the driver and passenger compartments, flexible reading lights in the rear and thicker padding on the driver's seat cushion.
The original logbook shows it was registered in Lennon's name on February 19, 1970.
It was a regular choice of transport for Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono and they were photographed getting out of the car at the launch of Ono's book Grapefruit in July 1971.
But he did not have the car long, when he and his family moved to the United States he sold it to Harrison.
Car enthusiast Harrison had owned another 600 Pullman in the 1960s before he bought this one off Lennon. That car sold at auction in 2021 for £145,000.
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He kept this Pullman at his Oxfordshire home and in 1975 Mary Wilson and her husband Pedro Ferrer were invited for dinner.
Harrison gave them a tour of the property, which included showing them this car.
The couple were impressed and Wilson wrote in her biography that when they saw the Pullman they decided they simply had to have it.
The Motown star used the Pullman for touring in both the US and the UK, and was pictured with it several times.
She owned it until it was sold at Christie's in 1989, when it was purchased by Jarmo Hellas of the International Pullman Group.
He sent it back to the Mercedes-Benz factory for a full restoration, with the car stripped down and overhauled.
It was purchased by the current owner, a UK collector and philanthropist, in 2007.
A spokesman for Tom Hartley Jnr said: "Chassis 001580 is one of the rare right-hand drive, four-door 600 Pullmans and it is surely the most important 600 ever built.
"It was ordered and owned new by music legend and cultural icon John Lennon and was equipped with a whole host of extras befitting one of the greatest music stars of all time.
"While many Pullmans were furnished with trivial items such as a bar, John Lennon opted for extras that helped provide a haven for his creativity and allowed him to enjoy a variety of music.
"Chassis 001580 would be a very fine car in its own right, being a rare right-hand drive four-door 600 Pullman that presents exceptionally well throughout following its restoration by Mercedes-Benz.
"However, when you consider its first three owners, all from true music royalty, and the first owner being an icon of the 20th century, it should then really not only be viewed as an important car, but also a unique opportunity to purchase a very special piece of history."
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Mr Hartley added: "We are super pleased to have been the ones to have brought this car to the market, there cannot be any other car anywhere in the world that boasts such rock star pedigree."
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