A white 1961 Rolls-Royce owned by Pensacola real-estate attorney Jim Reeves looks almost identical to the 1965 Rolls-Royce that the legendary John Lennon used to promote the Beatles’ self-named album, commonly referred to as the White Album. The cars are so similar that Reeves’ model is often mistaken for Lennon’s. It’s been part of Pensacola folklore of more than four decades.
In fact, the Pensacola News Journal reported throughout the 1980s that former Mariner Mall owner Wallace Yost owned a “John Lennon Rolls-Royce.” Others claimed the same. “Lennon’s Rolls-Royce” was touted by a sales and promotion agent as one of the showstoppers for the first trade show at the the Pensacola Civic Center (now known as the Pensacola Bay Center) in 1985.
That same Rolls-Royce now belongs to Reeves, but it’s not Lennon’s, according to Jalopnik, a site dedicated to cars, the automotive industry, racing, and transportation culture.
Jalopnik reporter Chloe Clougher reported that Lennon sold the Phantom V to record label executive Allen Klein in 1969 for $50,000, approximately $445,000 in today’s economy. Clougher followed the trail and discovered that the Lennon Rolls-Royce is owned by Klein’s son, Jody Klein.
Reeves’ Rolls-Royce is a Silver Cloud II model with a black steering wheel on the left side as opposed to the white steering wheel on the right side of the Phantom V. Also, there’s a telephone in the Phantom V but not the Silver Cloud.
Jody Klein restored the car to its original specifications and displayed it at a Rolls-Royce concours event in 2016.
The PNJ reported Yost paid $184,250 for the Silver Cloud. In 1985, Arts and Decorative Magazine named Yost one of the top 100 collectors in the United States. His passions ranged from the Beatles to 19th-century French furniture. The PNJ reported Yost’s net worth was over $30 million in 1987 before his business empire crumbled.
UPDATE
We caught up with Jim Reeves during lunch. He said he bought the car from Yost about 25 years ago for $32,500.
- “He wasn’t doing too good. He needed the money,” Reeves said of Yost. “I didn’t buy it because I thought it was Lennon’s. I bought it to try and help him out.”
Reeves drove the Rolls-Royce for about five years before the ignition switch went out. Rather than repair the car for $900, he said, “To hell with it,” and convinced his CPA to let him write it off as a sign for his business. Reeves parked the car in front of his business on Bayfront Parkway, and that is where the Rolls-Royce remains for passersby to gawk at.
- “I just keep it there because it’s an eye-catcher,” he said.
Reeves described the interior of the car as “destroyed.” He has invested little in it since the initial payment, but he sank $5,000 into the Rolls-Royce last year for a paint job.
- “The way I looked at it, it was just an additional payment for my sign,” Reeves said. “Signs need to be painted.”
