A little less well known than John Lennon’s, yellow Romany style painted Rolls-Royce Phantom V, the ‘Beatles Bentley’, S1, was another extraordinary and controversial, artistically decorated car in the mid 1960’s. The Bentley S was acquired by the Beatles Apple Corp, in early 1968, when they took over Dandie Fashions, it seems  coincidental that the British registration for this 1956 Bentley S1, was 222 APL, almost bizarrely appropriate, as Lennon’s Rolls-Royce was 111, (FJB111C). The 1956 Bentley S was originally owned by the Countess of Middleton. The car was purchased in 1966, by John Crittle, owner of Dandie Fashions, the boutique clothing and tailoring shop.

London was exploding in the free thinking hippy style of the times. The King's Road and Carnaby Street contingent of the, Swinging London scene, were setting new fashion trends around the world. The artist collective Binder, Edwards, and Vaughn (BEV) played a pivotal role in the Genesis of the psychedelic era. They were rubbing shoulders with the leading musicians and artists of the time, and were an integral part of the Swinging Sixties as it evolved away from the sharp-suited, mop haired mod look to the free, pyhsodelia had arrived, bright, colourful, chilled, hairy flower-power and hippy generation, that went on to take over much of the western world from 1967 in to the 70’s.

John Crittle commissioned BEV to paint psychedelic shapes and vibrant coloured designs on the shop front and the car. The Bentley with its purple leather seats, a pink rug, and a body painted in 12 bold colors was the perfect vehicle for Crittle to chauffeur his clients and friends, John Lennon, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix and Roger Daltry, on late night cruises through London to places like the Speakeasy, the infamous basement restaurant and music club in the West End. Lennon's interest in Crittle's fashion work led to The Beatles' Apple Corps acquiring John Crittle's shares in Dandie as a business investment in exchange for 1% ownership of Apple Corps, and the shop was transformed into Apple Tailoring. Of course, the acquisition included the Bentley S1. Thus the handle of The Beatles' Bentley. Crittle was retained as director but this venture was famously ill-fated and the Apple boutique closed its doors by the summer of 1968. But the car lives on.

The Bentley S or S1 as it later became, was produced from 1955 until 1959. Derived from Rolls-Royce's Silver Cloud, the new standard steel saloon was a complete redesign from the previous R type standard steel saloon which had been in production, with modifications, since 1946. It was larger than the R Type, the body was manufactured in pressed steel with stressed skin construction. Doors, bonnet and luggage locker lid were of aluminium. Having a totally new external appearance, although with the traditional radiator grille. As with the preceding models there was no difference between Bentley and Rolls-Royce, the Bentley S differing only in its radiator grille shape and badging from the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud l. Both variants were the last standard production models with an independent chassis. The models shared the 4.9 L (4887 cc/298 in³) straight six engine. They were the last vehicles to be powered by descendants of the engine originally used in the Rolls-Royce Twenty, from 1922 to 1929. In all, 3,072 standard versions were produced with a wheelbase of 123 inches (3,100 mm), (145 with coachbuilt bodies). And from 1957, a further 35 long wheelbase versions were produced, with 127 inches (3,200 mm), (12 with coachbuilt bodies).

When tested by The Motor magazine 1957, the standard model had a top speed of 103 mph (166 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–60 mph (0–97 km/h) in 13.1 seconds. A fuel consumption of 16.1 miles per imperial gallon (17.5 L/100 km; 13.4 mpg‑US) was recorded. The test car, which had the optional power steering, cost £6305 including taxes of £1803.

With thanks to;-

http://beatlesbentley.com/the_story.shtml

https://sixtiescity.net/Culture/BEV.htm