In case you missed out on Sir Paul McCartney’s Aston Martin DB5 when it crossed the auction block last year, a different car with a Beatles connection that is equally British and perhaps even equally collectible is up for grabs. It doesn’t quite match the performance of a DB5, but it is more unique and more affordable. It’s a 1968 Morris Mini-Minor covered in 4,000 pennies, one of at least two used to promote the 1968 Beatles hit Penny Lane.
According to Auto Classics, the story goes like this: Paul McCartney commissioned at least two of these Penny Lane Minis to promote the song’s release. Rumor is there might be a third one floating around somewhere in North America, but the one we see here is currently in private hands and was previously owned by a former employee of a company that used the car for promotional work. The other documented Penny Lane Mini sits in a Cornish Goldsmith exhibit in Redruth, England.
The pennies on the body of the car are coated in lacquer protecting them from oxidation which is why most of them still have their nice copper color. Thanks to the extra exterior decoration, this car weighs about 200 pounds more than a regular Mini which surely doesn’t do the car’s power-to-weight ratio any favors. In a previous life, this car was used to raise money for Liverpool-area charities, raising more than $900,000 over the years according to the listing. That’s a lot of pennies.
The asking price for this fun piece of Beatles memorabilia is only $25,000, or 25 million American pennies. Incidentally, the listing for the car throws a 404 error making us wonder if it’s already been sold. Either way, this is a pretty neat piece of both music and automotive history.
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