You could be forgiven for thinking John Lennon had three Rolls-Royce Phantom V’s, his original custom black one, the famous Romany painted yellow car, and finally the white one he had with Yoko Ono. But a close look at the registration numbers reveals actually it was just two cars.

Lennon bought a 1964 Mulliner Park Ward Phantom V, finished in Valentines black, (FJB 111C). His special order required the entire car to be black including the wheels. It was one of the first cars in England to have black tinted windows, he also wanted the radiator in black as well, but that’s where Rolls Royce drew the line and said no. The car had black leather upholstery, with fine-wood trim, writing table, cocktail cabinet, reading lamps, a seven-piece his-and-hers black-hide luggage set, and a Perdio portable television, and a refrigeration system was put in the boot. The cost would have been about £11,000 (equivalent to £210,000 in today).  Lennon didn't drive at the time and so hired a 6'4" Welsh guardsman named Les Anthony as his chauffeur. In December 1965, Lennon had more than £1900 worth of modifications done to it, including a back seat that converted into a double bed, a Philips Auto-Mignon AG2101 floating record deck that prevented the needle from jumping, a radio telephone and a cassette tape player were added. He also had speakers mounted in the front wheel wells so that he could talk to people outside via microphone.

(FJB 111C) was a sinister looking motorcar. Lennon had the car in its original ‘murdered out’ paint scheme with black windows, on 26 October 1965, when he took it to Buckingham with Paul, George, and Ringo, to receive their MBE’s (Member of the British Empire). Many servicemen believed the fact that her Majesty Queen Elisabeth II, having awarded the MBE to a mere "pop group" trivialised the honour. Many of those who had received the MBE for their military service returned their medals in protest, leading John Lennon to comment: “They got them for killing people. We got ours for entertaining. I’d say we deserve ours more.” Lennon recalled, "We were giggling like crazy because we had just smoked a joint in the loos of Buckingham Palace. We were so nervous."

Through 1966 and early 1967, Lennon did many thousands of miles, during his filming work in Richard Lester's movie, ‘How I Won the War’. The constant driving through Spain took a huge wear and tear on the Phantoms black paintwork. It was in a sorry state when he returned to London.