| 24th September 2006 01:43 AM |
|
|
| Ten Thousand Motels |
Old cars, old Stones roll along together
Mick, Keith, Charlie like vintage autos
Success allows them to indulge passion
Sep. 23, 2006. 01:00 AM
Star.com
Toronto Star
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts have been playing rock 'n' roll since 1963 as members of the Rolling Stones.
But it's more than just the love of music and touring that keeps Jagger, Richards and Watts together.
These three old Stones also love old cars.
Although Wheels hasn't been around quite as long as the Rolling Stones, there are some similarities:
Both Wheels and the Rolling Stones get more popular as they get older.
Both Wheels and the Rolling Stones have changed with the times. For example, they both started back in the days before the Internet, and now both have websites.
Both Wheels and the Rolling Stones show no signs of slowing down.
Although the Rolling Stones aren't visiting Toronto this year, Halifax today is the first of three Canadian stops on the Bigger Bang Tour. The Stones will also perform in Regina on Oct. 6 and 8, and in Vancouver on Nov. 3.
Mick Jagger's love of cars began when he was a kid. When he was growing up in post-war England, there was a strong American influence, with U.S.-produced television, movies and consumer products. As a boy, Jagger once said his ambition was to own a red Cadillac.
When the Rolling Stones toured the U.S. in June 1964, Jagger made sure that the Stones were chauffeured by a Cadillac limousine for their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Back home, Jagger favoured British auto makers. One of his first cars was a Ford Escort. But he was better at singing than driving.
In April 1966, Jagger bought a new navy blue Aston Martin DB6. He even had a record player installed.
He soon crashed the Aston. He was uninjured; the car was a write-off.
Jagger bought a Morgan sports car in 1969, an expensive, hand-made, limited-production, British-made two-seater that looks like something out of the 1930s, which is when it was designed.
Car and Driver magazine reported in January 1977 that Jagger's purchase gave a boost to the struggling firm:
"Mick Jagger bought himself a Morgan ... Jagger took to being seen about town in a buttercup-yellow 4/4 and was frequently photographed en route to his Old Bailey dope trial, with Marianne Faithful sitting beside him ... the Morgan became trendy.
"The price of old Morgans soared."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richards once said,
`Amazing things can happen in the back of a Bentley . . .'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today, Mick has his own Cadillac. It's part of his collection of automobiles stored near his estate in France.
He also has a Delahaye, which was a luxury car made in France during the World War II era, and a Ferrari.
Keith Richards, the Stones' lead guitarist, also has a fleet of cars.
On the website http://www.keithrichards.com, Richards was asked what kind of car he drives.
He answered: "What day? You're talking about the Bentley or the Ferrari or the Volkswagen? My favourite cars are still the old Bentleys. I do enjoy driving. I still have a Jag XJS, one of the originals — '76, I think."
In 1966, Richards bought a new Bentley S3 Continental four-door, which he named "Blue Lena" in honour of the great American singer Lena Horne.
In March 1967, Richards travelled in his Bentley to Morocco, along with another Stone, the late Brian Jones, and Jones's girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg.
Jones fell ill and had to stay in hospital in France. Pallenberg and Richards continued on the trip, and soon Pallenberg was Keith's girlfriend.
"Richards once said, `Amazing things can happen in the back of a Bentley and they did!'" explains Tamara Guo, who runs a Keith Richards fan site at http://www.thekeithshrine.com.
"Richards still owns the Blue Lena, which he keeps at his Redlands estate in the U.K."
Guo, who also edits the Stones Planet Fanzine http://www.stonesplanet.com, refers to herself as Blue Lena on the websites.
"Being a lifelong Keith Richards fan, I wanted an obscure screen name that only diehard Keith fans would know the meaning behind, so I adopted the moniker Blue Lena."
The Bentley has seen some tough times. Richards once drove it into a garden shed at Redlands.
The other early member of the Stones still touring, drummer Charlie Watts, doesn't have a driver's licence, but that doesn't mean he can't enjoy cars.
Watts said in an interview in the 1960s, before the band hit it big: "I don't particularly want to drive, but if I were a millionaire, I'd buy vintage cars just to look at them because they're beautiful."
And after he became a millionaire, that's what he did. In 1983, he bought a 1937 Lagonda Rapide, just to "sit in and look at."
The Lagonda of that era was a large, fast, luxurious British-made car, rivalling the Bentley. Only 25 of the 1937 Lagonda Rapide models were produced — and Charlie treasures his.
So there's more to the Rolling Stones than sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.
There's also cars.
[Edited by Ten Thousand Motels] |
|
