Luxury manufacturer Rolls Royce have created some of the most iconic cars in history, but perhaps none more so than John Lennon’s era-defining 1965 Phantom V.
With the original valued at about £20million but buried in a private collection across the Atlantic, a Stratford workshop have recreated the psychedelic vehicle, offering it out to the public for hire.
Premium coachbuilders J P Fallon, in Marshgate Lane, worked on the original car but closed down in the 1980s, so Beatles fan and Essex businessman Frank Nash, re-established the company in July 2014.
After browsing through a number of suitable Phantoms, Frank and a team of artists found the perfect car for the job and set about transforming it at a cost of £100,000.
“The original car was a work of art so recreating it took a lot of effort – it’s been like the A-Team in there for the past five months,” he told the Recorder
“It’s something we’ve talked about for years, but with the 90th anniversary of Rolls Royce coinciding with the 50th birthday of John Lennon’s car this year, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.
“It’s like a magnet, whenever it’s been taken out to a show people are just drawn to it.”
Renown artist Paul Karslake, 56, from Leigh-on-Sea, has painted guitars for the likes of the Rolling Stones and Brian May and even a Harley-Davidson motorbike for Beyonce.
But he insists the recreation of Lennon’s Phantom is among his proudest career achievements.
“I think everyone should go and see it, it’s phenomenal,” he said. “There really is nothing else out there like it.
“It’s such a shame that the original is over in Canada – I think that’s wrong – so it’s great to be giving something like this back to Britain.”
The company have also recreated a classic Mustang as immortalised by Steve Queen in the 1968 film Bullit.
For more information visit jpfallon.co.uk.
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