Making money at Abbey Road

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The Beatles’ legendary 1969 ‘Abbey Road’ album cover is still keeping a few people busy. They’re trying to find out why Paul McCartney is walking barefoot (“because it was hot that day”) or if the number plate of the Volkswagen Beetle on the left contains a hidden message. The Beetle and the police van have now become legends in itself, but what about the light blue Triumph Herald Estate in front of the Beetle?

This summer David Golding from Dublin bought a 1967 Triumph Herald Estate from South Western Vehicle Auctions, a car ‘believed to appear in picture form on the famous Abbey Road LP cover’, according to the catalogue. Despite the license plate is impossible to make out from the photo, Golding was determined to find out if this was the real deal. He succeeded in tracking down the first owner’s widow, who stated that her late husband always used to wear a tweed jacket, similar to the one that was worn by the man next to the car (only visible after enlargement of the photo). In addition, her daughter stated that he ‘looked like her Dad’.

Golding paid 1.650 pounds for the Triumph at SWVA, and despite his findings all being circumstantial evidence he recently sold the car on ebay for 6.350 pounds.

(photos courtesy SWVA)

     

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