Abbey Road The Beatles
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The fifth Beatle was a Volkswagen

The purest chance wanted the popular Volkswagen "Beetle" to sneak onto the cover of what is probably one of the most remembered albums of the legendary Liverpool quartet, The Beatles' Abbey Road.

It was 11:35 in the morning on August 8, 1969. The place was just outside the EMI recording studios, in the London street of Abbey Road. At that moment, the photographer Iain Macmillan, accompanied by a policeman, was keeping traffic closed on this street, and in just ten minutes he would immortalize what is perhaps the most iconic photo of the most famous group in history, Los Beatles. Thus, the crosswalk that the four members of the band crossed achieved worldwide fame.

The remembered album cover.

This cover of the last album recorded by Los Beatles, and the penultimate release of the band before disbanding, has been analyzed over and over again. Details such as Paul McCartney's bare feet fueled conspiracy theories about the supposed death of the artist. Other details that are not hidden from view is the man who slipped into the photo and who looks directly at the camera, and his identity was discovered, Paul Cole, an American from Florida who was on vacation in London. 

But the detail that also slipped into the cover of this record is the Volkswagen Beetle white that is parked on the sidewalk, and of course, did not go unnoticed. Interestingly, the nameBeatles”, is derived from the word “Beetle”, which means beetle in English.

BEATLEMANIA

Eric Fritnat, a resident of Abbey Road, who they say was on vacation at the time of the photo, had parked his 1968 Volkswagen on the sidewalk, something that until 1974, was legal in London. With the release of the record at the end of 1969, this Beetle became another benchmark for Beatlemania. And if any piece related to the group automatically becomes collectible, the same thing happened to the Beetle with its license plate. “LMW 281F”. In fact, the plate was stolen multiple times by fans of the group as a trophy.

The Abbey Road Beetle at the Volkswagen museum in Wolfsburg.

Volkswagen's own license plate served to further fuel the rumors about the supposed death of McCartney. It was said that the combination "281F" could be interpreted as "28 IF", which would mean the singer's age in 1969.

Years passed and, in 1986, Pete Gent, owner of a musical instrument store in Hertfordshire, found himself the Abbey Road Cover Beetle in a dealer window. She immediately took an interest in the car. His surprise was that the seller did not know the history of this Volkswagen, so the price for this car, whose image had been seen on more than 31 million records, must have been ridiculous. 

In the summer of 1999 Volkswagen bought the famous Beetle at auction. Since then, it has been part of the exhibition of the brand museum in Wolfsburg, accompanied by other Beatles memorabilia. 

The opportunity to have such a special car on a unique cover has not been wasted by Volkswagen. What's more, she took the opportunity to pay homage to the Abbey Road album in an advertisement for her New Beetle.

New Beetle Abbey Road
Volkswagen New Beetles on Abbey Road.

More recently, in 2019. , on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of this Beatles album, Volkswagen took a photo with the famous Beetle on Abbey Road, this time, well parked. They took the opportunity to say: "50 years later, we now have technology to help park."

Abbey Road 2019

LIMITED EDITION

Finally, and also in 2019, Volkswagen released a limited edition of the album cover with the famous Volkswagen Beetle parked back in Abbey Road. For legal reasons, Volkswagen could not sell it with the disc inside, but the cover was released for 33 rpm vinyl and for CD. The cover was called “The Beetle's Abbey Road – Reparked Edition”. It was only sold through the Swedish Volkswagen website, and the proceeds were donated to Breakage, an organization that fights for children's rights. 

Thus, Volkswagen created one of its most curious collectibles, to commemorate that time when the car and the most famous group in the world came together on a cover. He Beetle and Beatles.

Pictures of Volkswagen / REUTERS

What do you think?

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Written by Javillac

This thing about cars comes to one since childhood. When other kids preferred the bicycle or the ball, I kept the toy cars.
I still remember as if it were yesterday a day when a black 1500 overtook us on the A2, or the first time I saw a Citroën DS parked on the street, I have always liked chrome bumpers.

In general, I like things from before the time I was born (some say I'm reincarnated), and at the top of that list are cars, which, together with music, make the ideal combination for a perfect time: driving and a soundtrack according to the corresponding car.

As for cars, I like classics of any nationality and era, but my weakness is American cars from the 50s, with their exaggerated shapes and dimensions, which is why many people know me as "Javillac".

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