The Smiley Smile Message Board

What are your favourite cars owned by the Beach Boys?

I love this yellow Porsche that Brian is driving. Is this a 912 or a 911? I read somewhere recently that Tony Asher drove a yellow 911 (might be misremembering this though). Is there a chance Brian is driving Asher's car here?

(http://i61.tinypic.com/54w0eg.jpg)

Also found this interesting site dedicated to Dennis' ferrari 275 GTB!

http://www.ferrari275gtbc.com/index.html (http://www.ferrari275gtbc.com/index.html)

(http://www.ferrari275gtbc.com/images/275gtb_1967.jpg)

Probably Mike's Bentley Continental S2 coupe:

(http://image.motortrend.com/f/features/auto_news/2008/9665315+w976/112_0805_04z%2b1960s_bentley%2bfront_three_quarters_view.jpg)

There's an interesting article from 2008 about his previous and then-current cars: click here (http://www.motortrend.com/features/112_0805_mike_love_celebrity_drive)

Thanks for that - interesting read.

http://hooniverse.com/2014/12/16/rock-and-radio-the-classic-craig-ads-of-the-1970s/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+hooniverse%2FRrVl+%28Hooniverse%29

1948 MGT1948 MGTC - Mike
1935 Ford Model 48 convertible - Dennis
Cadillac Sedan deVille Limo - Brian
Bentley Continental S2 - Carl
Chevy C/K truck  - Al

Didn't they buy Rolls (was it silver phantom) for Brian when they were in London back in 1966?

Cool ads, thanks. How do you know which car is whose?!

(http://hooniverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Beach-Boys.jpg)

 :)  Corrections welcome as always...

I wanted to clip the original photo of Brian with the Porsche into this for an A/B comparison but it was too large, maybe trimming it down to 3 individual photos would be cool if necessary to see them side-by-side.

BUT - Here is what I'm 99.999% sure is that very same car Brian is driving in the home movie clip, as it appeared after being restored and as it looked in 2006.

This is a 1968 Porsche 911 L, important to note the "L" because that was at the time the most expensive version of this car offered in the US. It was and is a rare car, there were apparently 449 produced as the 1968 model, and that was the only year it was made. So when you see either a modern or a vintage photo of one, as with the Brian film and the 2006 shots, there isn't much doubt what it is because there are/were less than 500 made, ever.

As of 2006, it had been restored to original condition and specs, had 70,000 original miles (according to those posting the info back then), and had all original paperwork...which means you could trace the title and ownership back to the original owner.

And a previous owner of this 1968 Porsche 911 L ?

David Anderle.  ;D

Now the question is, and of this I have no idea, was Brian driving David's Porsche in the original film? Or was it Brian's car? In the vintage car market, if it were ever Brian's car his name would be signed on the original title and anyone owning the car as a collector would make sure to point out that this was Brian Wilson's 1968 Porsche with his name on the title, if that were the case. In this case, David is listed as the previous owner, so I'd bet without knowing for sure that Brian was filmed driving David's car.

The restored car as it looked in 2006:
(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/porscheanderle_zpspsqbhumo.jpg)
(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/porscheanderle2_zpsj3xoihkt.jpg)

Haha! - it's funny because I was thinking if anyone would engage in my question it would be Guitarfool and, lo, you've excelled yourself here!

Out of curiosity -  How did you find out about this restored once-Anderle-owned Porsche?

Oh, to have the readies to buy that ...

Hang on though - if the car was made in 68, then are you sure it's the same one? Surely that's earlier footage of Brian in the yellow Porsche?

The footage appears in Art That Shook The World (about 12m.20s)

http://youtu.be/sX-kFyt73Uw (http://youtu.be/sX-kFyt73Uw)

Maybe it is 68. Which house is that? Brian's hair looks more 66 to me but that is a pretty psychedelic shirt.

Am I wrong thinking the porsche in the footage is yellow? Maybe it is gold like the 2006 photos ...

I'm smart.

Yeah, I heard it was ordered for him but he never got it. Or he had it for a very short period of time.

Bgas is alot smarter. ;)

Bgas doesn't know sh*t from Shinola.  ;)

Brian had a pale yellow Mark III (I'm pretty sure - not a car girl even though my family sold them, may have been Mark IV - it was in 1969).  It was a really pretty car and Brian looked great in it.  

The info I gave isn't 100% confirmed (besides the ownership and what the car is, which is 100%), there is some speculation involved, just to make that clear. And to explain my "corrections welcome" disclaimer.  :)  But I saw I got some info on the production totals wrong for the 911L, I was listing European numbers while the US totals were more like 11,000 for that particular model. My bad! Still a rare car and the more expensive version for sale.

That film is later than 1966, I'm pretty sure. The car's color may be deceiving in how the film is washed out by the sunlight, or how it was processed, but the car in the film looks like the Anderle car from 2006, with that light gold color.
Those psychedelic shirts can sometimes tip off when the photo or film was shot, those were more of a 67-68 thing, it would seem.

There are details on the car, very minute differences, that could ID the original film's Porsche as something other than Anderle's 911L (it could have been an earlier S model, or whatever the case), but putting all the pieces together from the 2 photo sets, the colors match, the model seems to match on the surface, and one was owned by someone very close to Brian from that era.

Borrowing a line from Woodward and Bernstein in "All The President's Men"...If you go to bed, wake up and see snow on the ground the next morning, you can confirm that it snowed overnight. You didn't actually see it snow, so you can't actually prove that it snowed, but you can confirm and conclude that it did in fact snow...or something like that.  :lol

So in this case, connecting David Anderle to Brian, connecting a gold Porsche 911 in a film from 67-68 vintage to a car previously owned by Anderle, connecting the color and features of the 2006 Anderle Porsche to the original film...circumstantial evidence but pretty solid as well. I'll go out on a limb and say in this case, it snowed overnight.  :)

And I'll gladly stand corrected if that's not the case!  ;D

All seems like pretty sound reasoning to me and agree, that car could well be gold and not yellow as I originally assumed.

I guess one way of ruling out whether the footage is/isn't pre-68 would be whether that's Brian's Bellagio house - anyone?

Thanks again for the fascinating info.

Couple of car quotes : 

>>"My favorite drive ever was Sunset Boulevard, between the house that Brian [Wilson] had in Beverly Hills and my place in Brentwood. In the early 1970s, we would record at Brian's house and that drive back and forth, that was my break from work, my escape.
 
"There's that great curve there. I used to get my quota of tickets every year right there. I had my little 1967 XKE, the most beautiful European sports car ever made. The afternoon sessions, that's when I would get a ticket. But if we went into the late hours, which we did a lot, then I could really cut loose. It was like our private Laguna Seca speedway. Those were great days. You know, it hasn't changed a bit either."
 
— Al Jardine  << 

>>Dennis still feels somewhat vengeful toward the people in Hawthorne who snickered at the group. "I like showing them that we've got a lot of cash," he says. "When I visit my mother there, I drive my Ferrari down Hawthorne Boulevard, go home, drive the Cobra along the same street, and do the same thing with the Aston-Martin and my brother's old T-Bird." 

--Linda McVeigh 1965 << 

Brian owned a 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix (cover of Hawthorne CA. CD). Carl owned a 1964 Pontiac Grand Prix (cover of Shut Down II). Dennis owned a 1963 Corvette Stingray (Cover of Shut Down II), then a Ferrari, Cobra, and Astin Martin.

I always thought the white T-Bird on the Shut Down II cover (seen better in photo shoot outtakes) was Murry's. But now I'm wondering who Dennis was talking about when he says above that he borrowed his "brother's T-Bird." If it wasn't Brian's and Carl's, it musta been Murry's T-Bird.

Wasn't it Carl whose first new car was hit and possibly totaled by another driver when Carl was driving it home from the dealership?

If so, what make/model was the car?

This is a great topic, I want to add a few visuals to some of what has been mentioned already. And I hope anyone who has more info can fill in some of the gaps of info, as there are still questions about some of the details of these cars even today.

These are stills I captured from the Little Honda film which Dennis shot and which featured Carl. Some of the cars we've been discussing:

This shows a silver Corvette convertible, obviously not the one Dennis owned from the Shut Down vol.2 cover. Anyone able to tell whose Vette this was? Next is a red 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, by many accounts this is the car previously owned by Sam Cooke which Dennis acquired after Cooke's murder in 1964. More on this one to come. In the background is the Jaguar XKE.

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/carlcars1_zpsccworqrj.jpg)

This is where it gets interesting. Here is a 60's Aston Martin DB5 convertible, this would most likely have been Carl's as he's said to have owned one. Does that sound right?

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/carlcars2_zpsrsb2dtjx.jpg)

In the film, Carl wrecks into some trash cans and the silver Vette convertible pulls up next to him. There is a man driving who you can't see at all for identification, and there is a woman in the passenger seat as shown in this shot. Can anyone ID her?

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/carlcars3_zpskau8drli.jpg)

And this is the Sam Cooke-Dennis Wilson Ferrari 250 Lusso seen at a modern car show.

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/dennis%2063%20ferrari_zps32amkrjb.jpg)

One of the questions that was lingering about the Cooke-Wilson Ferrari was the color. It was apparently shipped from the factory in a different color, yet reports mostly say it was red when Cooke owned it, and it's obviously red as Dennis owned it too, again assuming the info is correct that this was the Sam Cooke car. So there are still gaps in the details, despite some assumptions that connect the dots.

Anyone with more info and corrections on any of this, please add to the discussion!

Is that the car Brian emerges from at the 6:18 mark in The Real Beach Boy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPoeD1G6dpE

Yep, that's the one.  License plate said "Love 1".  Stan Love chauffeured Brian around in it.

1964 Pontiac Grand Prix. On the way home from the dealership on the day he bought the car, he was broadsided at an intersection near his home in Hawthorne, and the car was totaled. I assume he bought another one just like it, as shown on the Shut Down II cover. Either that or he bought it before the photo shoot and totaled it afterwards! I think the former.

Carl also owned an Aston Martin DB5 and a green Bentley in the mid-1960's.

Thanks, Mikie.  That's how I remembered the story, just wasn't certain my memory wasn't tricking me.  Also, wasn't it reported in the Gaines book that the Boys ordered four new Rolls Royces when they were in England in (again, I think) 1965?  One for each Wilson brother and one for Mike?  And wasn't that supposedly done to celebrate being voted by fans as the No. 1 group in England?

I think 1966 was the year they were voted #1 group in England, wasn't it?

Story goes that while in London, Mike, Dennis, and Carl walked into a dealership and ordered four Rolls Royce Phantom IV's - one designated for Brian. Brian couldn't wait the 3 months lead time and bought Lou Adler's Rolls, calling it his "interim" Rolls Royce. Terry Sachen drove him around in it. There's pictures of Brian inside his Rolls in the back seat; I think one with Marilyn.

But...........Carl's family was recently asked if Carl had ever owned a Rolls Royce and they said "No".

I'm sure you're right about the year (1966); I was mistaken about it being 1965.

So, I wonder how the declaration by Carl's family squares with the story in Gaines' book about the Boys buying four Phantom IVs?  Or, perhaps the appropriate question would be, "How does the story in Gaines' book square with the declaration by Carl's family?"

Dunno. That same story is not only in the Gaines book. A couple of e-mails should square that away. You'd think someone in the Wilson clan would know for sure.

I've no evidence contrary to your suppositions, but I see a yellow, not, gold car; and I don't think it has anything to do with the sunlight.
What of buddahat's memory of Tony Asher owning a yellow Porsche? Is it not possible that was his and not Anderles' ?

That's the stumbling block on something like this, there are so many variables in play that it could be Anderle's car or it could be anyone else's Porsche, it's still not clear. What I went with as a possibility was the connection between Anderle and Brian as well as certain elements of that short (and low quality) film clip that suggest a time period that may not have been when Tony Asher was still involved in the scene.

About the color of the car: One thing I didn't add originally because it was too car-centric in detail was that the Porsche in the 2006 images had been fully restored. The 911 from the 60's was notorious for rusting, and add the fact that it was in SoCal near the Pacific Ocean with salt air and it would be even more of an issue with rust.

We'd need to ask the owners or those who did the restoration for 100% confirmation, but going on the Woodward/Bernstein principle (  :) ), a full restoration of a mid or late 60's Porsche would definitely include a new paint job, as well as what would usually be extensive body work to repair and replace the rust damage. To fully restore such a car would go beyond that, and depending on what class of collector car they'd want it to be, they'd either go the fully obsessive route with all original parts and all matching numbers, or they might replace some with what's available after-market.

So what color was David Anderle's 1968 Porsche in late 67 or 68? No matter what the color they shot on the car as of 2006, we'd need to confirm what color it was at that time it was new. Even if they tried to match an original factory color, modern paint isn't the same as 1960's paint, so often there isn't a match from the original, but they can come close. Or they can paint a different color entirely.

We just don't know. Unless someone confirms.

Next - Can Tony Asher confirm that the car Brian is shown driving is or was his 911? Or are there any photos of Tony with that car at this time to compare? If so, and it matches, then that's the case closed. Or better yet, if Tony himself sees that film and says "Yep, that's my car", then it's airtight. Until that happens, it's all guessing.

I come back to the floral shirt for another time-specific detail. Without airtight confirmation, we can assume based on other photos and films that those floral shirts were what Brian is pictured with more often in the latter part of 67 and 68. Tony Asher wasn't around as much if at all at that time, and almost all of the candid and staged photos of Asher and Brian were taken when Pet Sounds was being worked up, late 65 and early-mid 66. I can think of no photos/films offhand from the "Pet Sounds era" showing Brian wearing that kind of shirt. I assumed, then, that the timing and the possibility of Brian driving Asher's car wasn't as strong if all of that adds up, because I got the impression Asher wasn't as frequent a visitor after 1966.

Someone asked if the house looks like the Bellagio address - I think it does, but am not able to confirm that 100%, obviously. If I had to guess, I'd say that is the Bellagio house in the film, which would date the film to at least after April 1967 or later. If it's not even Brian's house, or something way different, someone would need to come forward with that. But to me, it looks like the style of the Bellagio house, and that also would narrow down the time frame.

There are many more little details and considerations, if it were a really big issue that needed airtight confirmation for publication or something, those steps would be followed and more confirmation firsthand would be chased down. So it's a bit obsessive, but I tend to be that way too.  ;D

It could be Asher's, Anderle's, or anyone else's at this point, I'm just weighing the details and hoping for more proof.

The other issue is, without a closer look, it can be hard to tell Porsche 911's apart from that era in the 60's because a lot of the features on the outside were basically the same design, apart from some options like wheels and the like. It's a tough call, hopefully someone will step in and clarify some more. I'm curious as hell, I know that for sure.  :)

One of the sources was Jules Seigel's "Goodbye Surfing" article from 1967, describing the Wilson brothers and Mike ordering/buying those 4 Rolls in England during the '66 tour, and also mentions the prices paid (and what Brian paid for the Adler car, and why he wanted a Rolls in his own words). So it was reported shortly after they bought the cars in detail, it's hard to dismiss based on that kind of reporting from that exact time it happened. Maybe Carl had buyer's remorse and never actually took ownership? Whatever the case, if the article is correct from '67 Carl had at least ordered and put some money down on a Rolls in 1966...who knows.

 I'd like to know, if anyone can pinpoint, whom in Carl's family was queried. Seems to me there's no-one around now, that would have been around then, unless we're speaking of Annie/Billy, a few cousins...

not a strange question.......

no more than....... what sneakers does Brian wear?  what guitar strings did the guys use in the early days?

do any of the guys or family still own any of the striped shirts from the 60's?

how often does Al play his jukebox, and moreso, what titles lie within?

is Bruce still married and why it that so 'hush hush' nowardays??

so many questions. any of our business? no doubt no, but we still wanna know eh?

RickB

Can't forget Brian's black and white CLS 55's!  ;D

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,17357.msg445296.html#msg445296 (http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,17357.msg445296.html#msg445296)

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,17357.msg445147.html#msg445147 (http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,17357.msg445147.html#msg445147)

No, that was Dennis.

If so, somebody had better correct these people:

https://m.facebook.com/CarlWilsonAndTheBeachBoys?v=info&expand=1

http://www.mountvernonandfairway.de/carl.htm

I miss that car; I always knew when dad was almost home for dinner because you could hear it coming a mile away.

I wish I could ask all the questions...I can tell you my pop was the original owner of his Porsche, and the color it is in those pictures is close to the original color of the car, although it was painted a darker color the majority of the time that he had it. I never remember it being the gold color until it was redone.

He never mentioned anything about Brian ever driving the car, which is not to say it never could have happened, just that it was not something he ever told me. I unfortunately don't really know about Brian and dad's relationship in 1968.

I guess I would say I would be wonderfully surprised if Brian is driving dad's car in that clip.

Jonathan, thank you for adding your thoughts to this discussion! It's great to hear your memories of your dad with this car. On the issue of Brian behind the wheel in that vintage film, it's really tough to come to any definite conclusion based on that film, for a number of reasons. The biggest one for me after going back to read this discussion is how much alike the Porsche 911 models were during this time 66-67-68. Without getting a better closeup of the car Brian is driving in the film, there do not seem to be many defining characteristics to pick out and make definite ID's. Plus the footage from 2006 shows a car which had been given a full restoration, without giving specific details of what exactly may have been changed in the way of those small details. It's really hard to be sure, but it would be great if at some point we could find additional images or info and show that the 60's film was Brian driving David's Porsche, or prove it was Tony Asher's or anyone else's, whatever the case.

It's great to read your personal thoughts as always, and I hope you'll continue to share your thoughts and memories of your dad with all his fans here.  :)

Seems to me that Jonathan's post kills the idea that the Porsche Brian is driving in the video could have been David's as he stated it was always MUCH darker than the gold color. No way that would get washed out in the sun to appear yellow.

The May 31, 1969 edition of Disc and Music Echo mentions that Brian had started to economise recently, having sold his Rolls Royce but retaining his Mercedes, Porsche and two motorcycles. Perhaps that is Brian's car shown in the clip.

Thank you Metal Flake Paint! That is exactly the kind of information I had hoped would start appearing - Is it a big issue about this car...no, but it's interesting to dig into the details and try to answer the questions.

For the record, it is *very* grainy and hard to be positive, but in that vintage clip as Brian pulls up in front of the garage, you can see the taillights and rear of a Mercedes parked in that garage. Dark, grainy, but visible. So *that* adds up, for one. Good stuff.

What I was going to reply to bgas was if in any articles or similar news clippings there may be any photos or even articles like MFP quoted of either Brian, Tony Asher, or David Anderle related to their cars. Apart from the obvious info about Tony Asher's yellow Porsche.

A few additional photos if at all available or possible would be awesome. What a general statement that is!  ;D

Again, going on that May '69 item, in the film we see a Porsche and a Mercedes in what (I think) is the garage at the Bellagio house...lines up quite well on the surface.

Thanks Jonathan Anderle for sharing your insighs on your dad's car - interesting stuff.

Nice find, Metalflake Paint. Perhaps it was Brian's Porsche after all.

(http://i351.photobucket.com/albums/q476/marcus1970/beach%20boys%20cars.jpg) (http://s351.photobucket.com/user/marcus1970/media/beach%20boys%20cars.jpg.html)

Just remembered that this was included in a tour program it seems from the Friends/1968 era. The next page reveals the answers for Brian:

  8. 1968 Mercedes 200 SL
10. 1968 Porsche
12. 1967 Rolls Limo Phantom

Good pull!  I'd forgotten all about that being in the program.  Worth noting, I suppose, the rest of their vehicles on the list:
Carl 1,2,6; Dennis 3,4,13;  Mike 2,11,15,17; Al 5,9; Bruce 14,16;