Keith Moon's ROCKIN' cars, part 3

The vintage Chrysler owned by Keith Moon, shown on page 152 of ROCKIN' (Moon playing at Bonnie and Clyde with his wife Kim and daughter Mandy) was sold at auction in February, 2006 by British Car Auctions at their impressive Blackbushe facility.

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The new owner, unnamed but apparently an operator of a high-end rental car service, queried www.honestjohn.co.uk about its history (the car, with license plate FLB 864, is pictured here as well).

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"I recently acquired a 1939 Chrysler Wimbledon Limousine--basically an American 6-cylinder "long-chassis" Plymouth assembled in Kew and known in the UK as a "Kew Chrysler." It's in excellent condition, has only 80,000 miles recorded and is thought by the mechanics at my business to be genuine. I've been told it was official transport for the American Ambassador [to England] early in World War II and also was once owned by the late Keith Moon. What is it worth? And, could its history make it worth more than a standard Kew Chrysler?"

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The responding automotive historian replied, "Plymouth was the Chrysler Corporation's low-priced model. Next up was Dodge, then DeSoto, then Chrysler itself, and, sitting imperiously on the top, Imperial. By the early '30s, Walter P. Chrysler had set-up an importation and assembly operation near the world-famous Royal Botanical Gardens, on the banks of the River Thames on Mortlake Road, Kew, Surrey. Plymouths and DeSotos assembled at the Kew Coachworks from 1932 to 1939 were badged "Chrysler" with the addition of names of London suburbs such as Croydon, Richmond, and Wimbledon. From the shape of the grille, your car, a "Wimbledon," is based on a 1938 model year American Plymouth (they became more streamlined with lights in the fenders for the 1939 US model year). Based on what similar models are fetching at auction, yours should be worth $10,000 - $14,000, but of course it's all about what someone's willing to pay."

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Moon acquired the right-hand-drive car in 1962. He owned it for eleven years, and possibly put it in a duck pond by accident at one point.

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The drummer also owned a 1929 limo, according to musician Alice Cooper, who remembers it was grey and "huge." Cooper told an interviewer that Moon had the back seats and surrounding interior removed so he could put a gold throne in the back. Going down the road, Moon would sit on the throne holding a gold goblet and would, from time to time, stand up (the car had a sunroof) and wave to passers-by.

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At some point earlier, The Who's bassist, John Entwistle, shared ownership with Moon of a one-off Bentley designed by UK coachbuilders Freestone and Webb which debuted at the 1950 Geneva Motor Show. The two had it fitted out with a Tannoy speaker behind the grille and "deployed it in a series of Pythonesque practical jokes," according to reporter Richard Fleury. "These typically involved cruising through Home Counties villages impersonating the local Tory candidate, warning of imminent invasions by boatloads of refugees. Or they'd pose as police hunting for deadly snakes. The concealed PA gave Moon so much pleasure he installed it in his next purchase, a "vast" two-tone S1 Bentley converted to look like an S2." (note: this S1 was the one with which Moon accidentally killed his chauffeur, and was subsequently sold).

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Next up was a ten-year-old Rolls Royce Silver Cloud MK III, equipped with a state-of-the-art eight-track hi-fi, drinks cabinent, and briefly an onboard TV (which Moon pitched out of the window when it failed to work). The flagship of the UK Moon fleet was a brand-new white Rolls Royce Corniche which Moon apparently wrecked several times (once, coming back from a party at Ringo Starr's home when he hit another car and went straight through a picket fence into his daughter's school playing field).

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In 1974, Moon moved to Los Angeles, extensively remodeled a beach house next to actor Steve McQueen's home, and bought an exclusive Cartier Lincoln Continental paid for with dollars stuffed in a suitcase.

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A year later, while partying nightly with similarly inebriated companions like John Lennon and sometime during the many months he was completing his only solo album, TWO SIDES OF THE MOON (shown here), he bought a vintage Rolls, apparently once the property of Spain's General Franco, in order to shoot the memorable front, back, and reverse-front-insert covers.

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Moon also owned two Excaliber exotics (a '70s interpretation of a '30s Mercedes sports tourer), one of which was purchased from Liberace (which the piano player had several times driven onstage in Las Vegas).

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Note: there are many excellent short-form videos of Keith Moon in action at www.youtube.com.

Also noted: British Car Auctions has handled many musician/celebrity auctions, including Rod Stewart's Lamborghini Countach and George Harrison's 1969 Ferrari 365TC (which Pink Floyd's drummer--and classic car connoisseur--Nick Mason also had owned).