George Harrison was a legendary musician. His and The Beatles’ work will go down as one of the biggest cultural phenomena of the 20th century. But aside from music, George Harrison had another passion: motorsports.
A young George Harrison attended his first race – the 1955 British Grand Prix – at 12, and that hooked him for life. In fact, his song “Faster” was devoted to Formula One and several F1 drivers. The proceeds of the song were donated to fight cancer after another driver – Gunnar Nilsson – passed away.
George Harrison was one of the 100 people to purchase the McLaren F1 road car. Another example from his garage is a 1964 Aston Martin DB5, which sold for $350,000 in 2011.
Even his daily driver is no ordinary car. It’s this 1984 Mercedes-Benz W126 500 SEL AMG, which he kept 16 years and drove more than 30,000 miles.
That’s a big star, a big car, and a big engine
The story is too good. It’s an S-class, luxury Mercedes. 500 SEL indicates the 5.0-liter, 16-valve, V8 engine, producing 228 hp and 299 lb/ft. If there’s such thing as a German muscle, this would be it. The engine packs a lot of power and it’s easily comparable to the American models of the era.
George Harrison purchased the car new in 1984. Then, he sent it directly to Strattons of Wilmslow who were the official distributors of AMG products in the United Kingdom. Back then, AMG was a separate entity from Mercedes and getting access to their stuff was fairly hard and sufficiently expensive.
Strattons of Wilmslow proceeded to equip the vehicle with the complete AMG package. A body kit was installed featuring new front and rear bumpers and a rear spoiler. All the chrome trim, the badge, and even the headlights wipers were painted black.
The suspension was lowered and the car was put on a set of black AMG Penta alloy wheels.
AMG is also known to have offered performance tuning of this particular engine, but it’s unclear if George Harrison ordered his to be modified.
Mercedes-level luxury
Of course, this being a luxurious S-class Mercedes, it comes with a number of factory options which took a couple of decades to appear in regular cars.
The 1984 Mercedes comes with power steering, heated seats, airbags, ABS brakes, and even a wired phone. The air conditioning system uses temperature sensors to maintain the desired climate. There are also temperature sensors outside the car, telling you what the weather is.
Accompanying the full black leather interior is a leather, AMG-inscribed, steering wheel.
The 4-speed automatic has an option to start out in second gear to prevent wheel spin at launch. This can be disabled, of course.
It also features a topographic sensor, which monitors the vehicle position (incline, decline) as well as the gas pedal position. The cruise control uses these inputs to adjust the throttle and give you a very smooth ride at a constant speed even downhill.
The chassis features the self-leveling hydropneumatic suspension that debuted in the previous model.
Overall, the W126 is an amazing car by 1984 standards. And after the AMG treatment, the full black Mercedes is genuinely badass.
You’d have a hard time associating it with such a gentle person as George Harrison. But it is, in fact, his car.
There are numerous official documents pointing to his name. The car has appeared in The Beatles’ Real Love video, a promo for Harrison’s 1991 Japan tour with Eric Clapton and various fan videos posted online.
You can own it
After he passed away, the Mercedes went to his longtime friend Ray Cooper. In the following years, the car changed hands a couple of times, but received good care. In 2017, the 500 SEL underwent cosmetic restoration to return it to its original splendor.
Last Saturday, January 26, the car was listed in an Anglia Car Auctions event. ACA posted an estimate of $65,000 – $90,000 (£50,000 – £70,000).
Below is a video from Omega Auctions which put the car for sale in one of their 2018 events. It’s not clear who the current owner is.
A doped out 1984 Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL AMG like this one is estimated to go for $25,000 – $35,000. Add in $13,000 for the restoration.
When you tally it up, George Harrison’s name and the car’s 16 years of history serving a legend are worth, give or take, $35,000. That’s some food for thought.
