A new book about Beatles cars

Author Siegfried Tisch, who has already written about Elvis Presley, James Dean and vehicles from the James Bond films, delved deeply into the Beatles’ history. He talks about the band’s beginnings, when ten people were crammed into a truck without seats to drive to Hamburg, and about driving to a gig at New York’s Shea Stadium at the height of Beatlemania, which the band went to for security reasons. He was brought in a cash van belonging to the Wells Fargo financial group.

It is never just about the vehicles, but always about the overall context and overall history of the legendary band and its individual members, which Tische delves into deeply in his “Autobiography”. The author takes a look at the childhoods of John, Paul, George and Ringo and their personal destinies. It is about important career steps, performances and recordings of The Beatles. There’s also a whole chapter on films from “A Hard Day’s Night” (German title: “Yeah! Yes! Yes!”) to “Yellow Submarine”, which of course also use different vehicles.

“Automotive Legends – The Beatles: Baby, You Can Drive My Car. The Beatles’ Autobiography” contains many interesting and sometimes bizarre anecdotes, including the theft of a harmonica in Hamburg, John Lennon’s test drive in front of several onlookers in London, and George Painting Harrison’s Hindu-inspired take on his Mini or Lennon’s bizarre idea of ​​driving a Rolls Royce in a gorilla costume and scaring passers-by on the street. By the way: McCartney wasn’t the only Beatle to temporarily lose his driver’s license.

Siegfried Tesche also researched in great detail what later became of the band members’ vehicles and where some of them ended up. In addition to numerous historical photographs, the 240-page book contains a detailed timeline with milestones in the band’s history and important special events. Speaking of The Beatles: On November 2nd, their final single “Now Andthen” was released thanks to modern studio technology.

(Service – Siegfried Teich, “Motorlegenden – The Beatles: Darling, You Can Drive My Car. The Beatles’ Autobiography”, Motorbuch Verlag, hardback 240 pages, €31.50)