John Lennon's first car, a Ferrari 330GT 2+2 Coupe, has sold at Bonhams' The Goodwood Festival of Speed Sale, which is currently underway at the Chichester, UK event.
 Lennon didn't even have to leave his home to buy a car, they came to him |
The Ferrari sold for an impressive £359,900 ($544,028), topping its £220,000 high estimate by 63.5%.
The current record for one of Lennon's cars is held by his psychedelic Rolls-Royce Phantom V, which sold for $2.2m in 1985 - a price which earned it the title of the world's most valuable piece of music memorabilia.
In February 1965, the same month that the band recorded Ticket to Ride, the news broke that John Lennon had just passed his driving test.
Within hours, the road outside his Kenwood home in Weybridge, Surrey was packed with a selection of the world's finest sports cars, with dealers vying for Lennon's attention.
Such was his fame, Lennon simply had to stroll outside and select his favourite from the dazzling array that had been placed before him.
He picked the Ferrari 330GT 2+2 Coupe in Azzuro blue paint, which cost him £6,500 ($10,091) - the equivalent to £110,000 in today's money.
"It is a wonderful commentary on the early excitement generated by 'Beatlemania' that John Lennon didn't even have to leave his house to buy his first car," commented Bonhams' Sholto Gilbertson.
Following Lennon's ownership, the car was placed with the famous Modena Ferrari dealership where it was sold to the current owner, who gave it a loving restoration and repainted it in the classic Ferrari red.
It has since been restored to its original colour and given its original registration - DUL 4C.
There were only 500 330GTs ever built.
Paul Fraser Collectibles will be bringing you more results from the Goodwood auction shortly, so be sure to visit our Classic Cars news section.
