Pete Gent couldn’t believe his eyes. He had wandered into a car showroom and saw a white VW Beetle in the forecourt. However, this was not just any VW Beetle, it was the most famous VW Beetle in Britain. Why the fame? Well, this was the very car that had featured on the cover of The Beatles’ Abbey Road album. Gent, owner of a music shop, recognised it straight away and, realising that the salesman was unaware of the car’s famous history, snapped it up.

The vehicle had a distinctive registration plate, which had been the subject of many rumours and conspiracy theories that claimed Paul McCartney was dead. An American Radio Station began reporting that McCartney had passed away and that the plate, LMW 281F, contained a hidden message. LMW was believed to represent Linda McCartney as a ‘W’idow and 281F was supposed to signify Paul being 28 if he had lived. Of course, as we all know, the rumour was completely false.

Gent eventually sold the plate at Sotheby’s in 1986, where it fetched £2,300. At that time it went to America, but he believes that it is now on display at the VW factory in Germany.

Gent admits that he regrets not hanging on to the number plate for longer, “I was hoping to get more for it at the time, but there were only two people bidding. I should have kept it really, but I didn’t realise that their popularity would grow again. It would have been great publicity for my guitar shop.”