In that light Fred and Tony Waters of Nippy Cars in Somerset have been asked to build a replica of it, including the hatchback door, Aston Martin DB5 rear lights, pitch dark 'Shadolite' windows and all the other special (Radford) features it had.
Fred wrote the following: "We don't often speak about the cars we do but this one deserves an exception.
In 2021 we were asked to do a replica of John Lennon's Radford Cooper 'S'. Not too much was known about the cars details and only a few grainy pictures and short cinefilm clips of it exist, many stories of the car existing and its demise float around. I'm proud to say my dad has done an amazing job making a steel tailgate for the car, Aston Martin style rear lamp clusters, all correct and original Radford parts are being used where possible.
It wasn’t planned to announce the build just yet but things happen. I’d like to take the chance now to thank Chris for entrusting us with the build, he’s very excited about the progress and so are we.
Pictures will follow but not just yet. Stay tuned,
but here is one to wet the appetite."
It seems likely that the car will debut at the London Classic Car Show in Olympia next month when the three existing Beatles Minis are announced to be on display.
UPDATE 1 March 2023: The show is over and the three original cars were there looking splendid. Unfortunately they weren't joined by the Lennon replica for reasons known to those involved alone.
Aston Martin rear lights, hatchback, piano black paint: John Lennon's Mini will be replicated
Picture Nippy Cars
those aren't Aston Martin (DB5) rear lights
ReplyDeleteThank you. Any idea what they are from instead?
Deletehttps://fineartamerica.com/featured/1965-aston-martin-db5-coupe-rhd-tail-light-jill-reger.html
DeleteI can tell you why only three Beatles Minis were at Goodwood in 2019. An appeal was made to see if anyone could come forward with information and a deluge followed that I waded through.
ReplyDeleteIt is of course the most contentious subject to two of the most fanatical groups on the planet - Beatles fans and Mini people - and at stake is ownership of arguably the most valuable Mini on the planet.
I did see a car which fitted the specification listed by Brydor as the original supplier of the vehicle (the tax loss operation that Epstein set up quite legally to try and reduce the fab four’s lost earnings). It was tatty and had been given a foul makeover in the 1970s complete with ‘porthole’ rear windows like an American custom van. But all of the key indicators were there including the plate fitted to hold the DB5 tail lights - although these had been replaced with naff square jobs.
Unfortunately without the log book its provenance remains moot, even if the chassis numbers match. The DVLA receives an incredible number of requests for the Lennon log book to be transferred each year to owners of cars which could be made to look like the original.
My gut feeling is that I did indeed see Lennon’s car at a very secret location in England. However my gut feeling was insufficient provenance to encourage Goodwood to invite the owner to put it alongside the three bona fide Beatle Minis and use the event as a platform to challenge the world to prove him wrong.
Interestingly, it’s believed that McCartney’s car is a re-shell as Magic Alex wrote off the original when driving to or from a mission to restock the band with pharmaceutical inspiration! Thus the legend of Macca’s death was created. The Brydor ledger would tend to support this argument, although there’s no doubt that it is McCartney’s Mini.
You say you saw the plate fitted to hold the DB5 tail lights, but was it a hatchback ? This is the key point
ReplyDelete