Classy stars with their classic cars

We’ve had a delve into the archive to have a look at what some of the classy stars of the past – and sometimes still the present day too – got to drive and own, like Michael Caine with his Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow (pictured). Some of their choices may surprise you:

A photo of The Rolling Stones, early in their fame, from 1964. From left to right: Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and Keith Richards. The 3½ Litre was the first new Bentley model produced after Rolls-Royce bought the company in 1931.

In this photo from 1966 we see John Lennon of The Beatles with his son Julian and his Rolls-Royce. The car was originally delivered to Lennon in 1965, but was damaged in 1966. He had it repaired, had it repainted in yellow, and then employed artist Steve Weaver to paint psychedelic motifs around the car. He also had extra equipment installed, including a refrigerator, record-player, television and a telephone.

It ended up in a museum, and was then sold at auction in 1985 for $2.3 million – a record auction price for a car. It’s now owned by the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, Canada.

When Lennon ordered the Rolls-Royce (previous picture), he didn’t actually have a driving licence. Happily for him he passed his driving test and received his licence in February 1965. Here he’s celebrating the occasion with other members of the band. From left to right, George Harrison, Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

In this photo taken in Germany we see McQueen with his wife Neile Adams. He was a huge fan of cars in general and Ferraris especially, and owned at least four of them. This particular car was later sold at auction in 2007 for $2.3 million. It featured a 3.0-litre V12 engine; 351 examples were produced between 1962 and 1964.

In August 1966 the Aston Martin owned by Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones had a collision in central London with a Ford Anglia. In this photo Jagger is talking to a policeman while his girlfriend Chrissie Shrimpton waits in the car.

British model and actress Lesley Hornby – better known as Twiggy – was just 18 when she bought her Mercedes in 1967. Here she’s pictured with the car in London in June 1976; She sold the car in 1978, and later the car was bought by Jamiroquai lead singer Jay Kay, in 1993.

Keith Moon was the drummer for the British rock group The Who. Here we see him at his home in Chertsey, England, with his daughter Amanda in October 1972, with some of the cars in his collection. Moon is sitting on a damaged Ferrari Dino 246 GT, and just behind are (left to right) a Mercedes-Benz SLC, a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow Drophead Coupé, and a Ford Model T.

On the right is a 1939 Chrysler Wimbledon Limousine, a British-built model (it has right-hand drive); some reports suggest this car was used by the US ambassador to the UK for a period during the second world war.

American singer James Brown and boxing champion Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) smile and greet the crowd while participating in the annual Bud Billiken parade in Chicago in August 1966.

The American actor Tony Curtis in his Alvis TE21 car in Knightsbridge, central London, in September 1965. Power for this model came from a 3.0-litre straight-six cylinder engine, which delivered 130bhp. 352 examples were made between 1963 and 1966. The British firm Alvis gave up making cars in 1967 but continued to make armoured vehicles for the military; Alvis is today part of BAE Systems.

British band The Who pose in front of a Volvo P1800, in 1966. Pictured left to right: Pete Townshend, Keith Moon, Roger Daltrey, and John Entwistle. The P1800 was one of the most celebrated Volvos of the 1960s; it arrived in 1961, and was powered by a 1.8-litre engine, later replaced with a 2.0-litre unit.

The American actor and film director Clint Eastwood looking ice-cool at the wheel of his Austin-Healey 100M outside his home in Los Angeles, in June 1956. The 100 was built in Britain and launched in 1953, and featured a 2.7-litre four-cylinder engine that delivered 90bhp; the 100M version arrived in 1955 was faster, delivering 22% more power.

In this photo we see Elvis at the wheel of his Ford Thunderbird in 1956, the year he became famous throughout America and beyond. Introduced in 1955, the Thunderbird brought some much-needed glamour to the Ford range in America. Power came from a 4.8-litre V8 engine, with an option for a 5.1-litre unit.

In this photo from 1976 we see the American singer Marvin Gaye stroll through the streets of Notting Hill, west London, in October 1976. Power for the car came from a 6.2-litre V8. Built between 1959 and 1968, 518 examples of this model were produced, and many were bought by famous people like Gaye.

The British rock band pose in front of a Jaguar S-Type in central London in December 1968, at the start of their fame. Left to right: John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Bonham.

The S-Type was built between 1963 and 1968, with power coming from a 3.4-litre or 3.8-litre straight-six cylinder engine.

The English actor Roger Moore opens the door of his Volvo P1800 for Isabelle McMillan September 1965, in a scene from the television series 'The Saint'. This popular British TV show did much to make the Volvo famous; it also did much for the fame of Roger Moore, who went on to play the role of James Bond in seven films between 1973 and 1985.

Yes, it’s another appearance for the Phantom V. This time the car is with American singer and guitarist Roy Orbison, in London in May 1970.

Beatlemania was in full swing in June 1964 when the band landed at Adelaide airport during their Australian tour. The Galaxie was launched by Ford in 1959, and this 1964 example is one of the final models made in the model’s second generation; the Galaxie was redesigned for the 1965 model year.

Power mostly came from V8 engines of various sizes, though a six-cylinder option was available as a low-cost model.

When he was a child Lennon spent his summer holidays with relatives in Durness, on the coast of northern Scotland. In June 1969, he decided to visit it with his family: new wife Yoko Ono, with her daughter Kyoko, and Lennon’s son Julian. He borrowed an Austin Maxi – a car that had only just gone on sale – from the Apple Records company (owned by The Beatles), presumably to keep a low profile.

Unfortunately they never made it to Durness; the car crashed into a ditch about 40 miles from the village, and Lennon spent five days in hospital being treated for injuries. The Maxi was an innovative car in many ways, but it was not very well built, and was unreliable. Around 500,000 were produced between 1969 and 1981.

In this photo we see British rock star Rod Stewart with his Lamborghini Miura, in September 1971. A Rolls-Royce Phantom V is in the background. Unveiled in 1966, the Miura was the first supercar with the engine placed in the middle of the car, like in Formula One race cars. Power came from a 3.9-litre V12 engine. Stewart later bought a Miura P400S and Miura SV.

American singer Alice Cooper (left) with his friend Keith Moon, in Los Angeles in June 1976. Cooper is sitting on a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, while Moon is with a 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom I.

The Silver Shadow was launched in 1965, with power coming from a 6.2-litre V8; in 1970, the engine became a 6.75-litre V8. The model is the most-produced Rolls-Royce ever, with 30,057 built up to 1980. The Rolls-Royce Phantom I was produced between 1925 and 1931; 3512 were built, including 1240 of them at the Rolls-Royce factory in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was powered by a 7.7-litre straight six cylinder engine.

It’s June 1966 and here we see McQueen giving this Ferrari 275 GTS Convertible a run on the Riverside Raceway, in California. Produced between 1964 and 1966, 200 examples of this model were built; power came from a 260bhp 3.3-litre V12 engine.

British actor Richard Burton is visiting Merton College in Oxford, England, to discuss a new film, in February 1966. This magnificent Rolls-Royce was built between 1959 and 1962, with power coming from a 6.2-litre V8.

American signer and actor Dean Martin arriving at the NBC Studios in Burbank, California, in his Jaguar E Type, in February 1966. Sold in America as the XK-E, the model is the most famous car Jaguar has ever built. Produced between 1961 and 1974, power initially came from a 4.2-litre six-cylinder engine, though a V12 would be fitted from 1971 onwards.

It’s November 1967 and we see Lennon in a customised Radford Mini – painted in psychedelic motifs - owned by George Harrison. The car is still owned today by Harrison’s widow Olivia.

This famous couple leave the Dorchester Hotel in central London to get into a Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith limousine, in December 1962. We believe this particular model is a 1956 model – it features a 4.9-litre engine, with six cylinders. 1883 examples of the Silver Wraith were built between 1946 and 1958. 

Elvis was drafted into the US Army in early 1958, at a time when he was extremely famous. Later that year he was posted to West Germany. He decided he needed a car, and chose a second-hand 3.2-litre V8 BMW 507 at a local BMW dealer. In December as shown in this photo he was presented with the keys to it by German TV personality Uschi Siebert.

Elvis had its colour changed to red, and shipped it back home when he returned to the US, and sold it shortly after. A later owner sold it to BMW in 2014 on condition it be restored; this took two years, and it’s now on display at the BMW Museum in Munich. The 507 is certainly beautiful, but the car was something of a disaster for BMW; just 254 were made, and it’s believed that BMW lost money on each one it sold.

It’s now February 1969, and here’s Paul McCartney and girlfriend Linda Eastman leaving the Apple Records recording studios in central London. Paul and Linda got married later that year; the car was customised by Harold Radford in 1965. It was sold and ended up in Los Angeles; fully restored in 2001, it was sold at auction in Illinois, USA, in 2018 for $235,500 (£183,000/€210,000).

Johnny Hallyday was arguably France’s first rockstar. In this photo from 1960 we see him at the wheel of a Triumph TR3 in central Paris. Early TR3s featured a 2.0-litre four cylinder engine that delivered 95bhp. Later examples had a 2.1-litre engine, with 105bhp of power. Around 75,000 TR3s were made between 1955 and 1962, with most being sold in the USA.

In this photo from 1970 we see The Jackson 5, the famous pop singer group, where Michael Jackson began his singing career at the age of five along with his four brothers, posing with the singer Diana Ross on her 1967 Jaguar XK-E (E-Type). This car was sold at auction in 2016 for $220,000.

After the crash mentioned earlier in this story, apparently Lennon decided driving wasn’t for him and he employed drivers thereafter. He took delivery of this four-door Pullman in February 1970; it featured added equipment such as a Philips record-player. This photo was taken in July 1971 in London, but two months later Lennon moved to New York City, never to return to the UK.

He sold it to fellow-Beatle George Harrison, who sold it in 1975 to the American singer Mary Wilson, of The Supremes. It was restored in the 1990s by Mercedes-Benz, and was eventually sold to a new owner in 2024. 2677 Mercedes 600s were built between 1964 and 1981, including 304 four-door Pullmans like this one.

In this photo from May 1982 we see the actor Michael Caine with his Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, outside his home in Beverly Hills, California. Caine didn’t pass his driving test until he was the age of 50, around the time this photo was taken. Before then, he relied on public transport and, when he became wealthy, taxis and drivers. He then gave up driving again at the age of 70.

Last but not least, this Bentley is surely one of the most famous cars owned by a musician. This photo is from June 1967, and Richards is posing with his 1965 Bentley S3 Continental Flying Spur. It featured extra equipment, including a Philips record-player. Earlier in 1967 Richards had taken the car on a famous trip through Europe to Morocco, with Anita Pallenberg; he and Pallenberg would later have three children together, before splitting up in 1979.

Richards called the Bentley the ‘Blue Lena’, in homage to the American singer Lena Horne. It was one of just 68 built in right-hand drive, and featured a 6.2-litre V8. Richards sold the car in 1978; a major restoration took place around 2006, and the car was sold at auction in 2015 for £763,100.

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