“I met George on a bus, I first saw John on a bus, George auditioned on a bus. Penny Lane was the bus depot. If I was visiting John I could go from my place in Forthlin Road to Penny Lane change and go up to his place in Menlove Avenue. I just like buses.” – Paul McCartney – more…
WNO 481’s JOURNEY TO BECOMING THE MOST FAMOUS BUS IN THE WORLD – AN EPIC 7,500 MILES WITH THE BIGGEST ROCK STAR ON THE PLANET
In the Summer of ’72, The Summer Of Wings Paul McCartney chose WNO 481 as the 1972 Wings Tour Bus. It then carried Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, Heather, Mary and Stella McCartney, Wings members Denny Laine, Henry McCullough, Denny Seiwell, wives and girlfriends rockin’ & rollin’ across Europe for Paul’s first major tour after the glory days of The Beatles. With its world-famous rock superstar on board this amazing family and band adventure the tour was hotly pursued by the world’s media for over 7,500 miles across 9 countries and 25 cities. Paul McCartney’s 1972 Wings Tour Bus WNO 481 became a Legend Of Rock & Road and landed the title “The Most Famous Bus In The World”
PRESERVING PAUL McCARTNEY’S YESTERDAY
The History of WNO 481 At A Glance – more…
Paul’s Greatest Vocal Performances – Paul McCartney Soundtracks and Soundbites
PAUL McCARTNEY’S CAREER ACHIEVEMENTS
National Treasure – International Superstar Paul McCartney’s unmatched career achievements – more…
Paul McCartney’s Wings Achievements – more…
Created with John Lennon the biggest band of the 1960’s The Beatles.
Created the biggest-selling band of the 1970’s – Paul McCartney & Wings – Britannica
THE DISCOVERY & RESTORATION STORY – FROM GARTH BROOKS’ GUITAR TO PAUL McCARTNEY’S BUS
In 1993 Paul McCartney’s 1972 Wings Tour Bus was sold after a Sothebys auction to a private buyer who took it down to Tenerife for display outside the palatial Harleys Rock Cafe. Later it was moved to the owner’s home and stored in a private compound where it remained for 22 years. By then the relentless blazing sun, souvenir hunters and vandals had taken their toll. The owner passed away in 2015 and in 2017 it was brought back to the UK.
Paul McCartney’s 2017 tweet to his millions of Followers looking for the bus. Also, a 2019 reply received from MPL wishing us well for the project and inviting photo’s once completed – more…
In October 2019 I went online looking to buy a Garth Brooks guitar and ended up buying Paul McCartney’s Bus – more…
For the next 4 years a journey of rescue, preservation and restoration brought it back to its glory days McCartney layout and livery. Flickr photo’s from 1953 to 2023
The Magical History Tour de Force Ticket To Ride Restoration of Paul McCartney’s 1972 Wings Tour Bus in photos making it ready for its unveiling and star appearance at The Classic Motor Show at The NEC.
Fully documented major preservation restoration so that the bus could Get Back … to where it once belonged: Paul McCartney & Wings layout and livery. Flickr photo’s from 1953 to 2023
Full show condition ready for display-only and or The Beatles Rooftop Concert Inspired McCartney Stage and or McCartney Creative Song-Writing Suite – The Touchstone Of The Genius use at events, functions, museums, festivals, theme parks etc.
Bristol KSW5G preservation restoration supported and approved by the Bristol bus preservation and restoration community.
Mechanically overhauled – more…Engine, radiator, gearbox and all running gear just completed 75 miles without losing any oils or coolant. Completely rewired to modern standards.
Security door enclosing the platform.
RESTORATION PHASE 1 UNVEILED
Restoration Phase 1 was unveiled in November 2022 in front of 90,000 people over 3 days at The Classic Motor Show at The NEC. more…
The bodywork, paintwork and The Beatles Rooftop Concert Inspired McCartney Stage were unveiled and Beatles-McCartney tribute bands played on it for the three days. – more…
The inspiration for The McCartney Creative Song-Writing Suite – The Touchstone Of The Genius was born – more…
RESTORATION PHASE 2 UNVEILED
Restoration Phase 2, the final reveal, was unveiled at Showbus 50 FlyBy on June 18th 2023.
Mechanically overhauled – more Full service and mechanical overhaul completed – more…
The bus traveled 75 miles under its own power and all systems worked perfectly, using no oil or coolant. more…
Now fully restored as the living Legend Of Rock & Road, Woodstock On Wheels, Rock & Roll Museum On Wheels, Musical Theme Park On Wheels, Macca’s Mother Ship etc.
RESTORATION ROLL OF HONOUR
The Restoration Roll Of Honour displays the names of the good people and good companies involved in the restoration. See the post that was accepted by Paul McCartney’s Facebook. more…
MARKETING / DIGITAL ASSETS
IN THE NEWS ON TV PLUS FACEBOOK & FLICKR
Press Coverage including ITV News and BBC News featured articles. more…
Bus & Coach Preservation Magazine – 8 Pages Including Front Cover
Coach & Bus Week Magazine – 8 Pages Including Front Cover
FBHVC – The Federation Of British Historic Vehicle Clubs
The FBHVC has 250,000 members in the UK with millions worldwide and have actively supported the restoration in their bi-monthly colour magazines since 2020. more…
289,000 Views – The video of the bus finally leaving the restoration workshop after nearly 4 years and on its first run in nearly 30 years garnered 289,000 Facebook views with 1,700 Likes and Loves. Note the little puff of smoke from the exhaust as the engine cleared its throat after years of non use. Once cleared no smoke and ran beautifully – more…
FACEBOOK
5,000 Facebook Followers. The only bus in the world with 5,000 FB Followers – more…
I always had about 100 FB Friends, since owning the bus that has maxed out at 5,000 FB Friends – more…
289,000 Views – The video of the bus finally leaving the restoration workshop after nearly 4 years and on its first run in nearly 30 years garnered 289,000 Facebook views with 1,700 Likes and Loves. Note the little puff of smoke from the exhaust. The engine was clearing its throat after years of being a non-runner. Once the throat was cleared no more smoke. The engine runs as a typical Gardner 5LW runs, beautifully and reliably – more…
FLICKR PHOTO’s
Over 1,400 historic and restoration photo’s on Flickr. more…
THE WINGS PC FOLDER
The Wings PC folder contains approx 1000 main folders, many with sub-folders dealing with every possible aspect of the bus’ complete and fully documented and researched 70 year peerless history and provenance, its many Bus Lives from 1953 including of course its Wings Over Europe tour with Paul McCartney & Wings, Restoration from 2019, marketing ideas, contacts, journalists, fans etc.
Email database of 1000’s of interested parties: museums, festivals, councillors in Bristol, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, PR Companies, Event Organisers etc.
Invitations and Honourable Mentions to museums, events etc. more…
Spreadsheet with researched and used regularly links to 100 million fans via Facebook Beatles McCartney Wings fan groups.
300,000 Bus Restoration and Preservation Enthusiasts via Facebook groups.
Full list of restoration materials suppliers.
Full list of skilled restorers
ARTWORKS & GRAPHICS
Artworks Photoshop / Illustrator files, graphics, banners, flyers etc. used along the restoration journey with many ideas for future marketing.
BANNERS AND FLYERS
7ft high banners designed to stand alongside the bus at events telling the story of Paul’s history with 1972 Wings Tour Bus, timeline of the restoration in photo’s etc – more…
INCORPORATED
UK Limited company in good standing.
THE SHOW-READY FUTURE
PAUL McCARTNEY’S 1972 WINGS TOUR BUS – RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW
Full show-stopping star attraction condition ready to sprinkle Beatles-McCartney stardust.for display-only and or The Beatles Rooftop Inspired McCartney Stage and or McCartney Creative Song-Writing Suite – The Touchstone Of The Genius use at events, functions, museums, festivals, theme parks etc.
THE PROMISE
Paul McCartney never announces where he’ll just rock up next. 1972 Wings Tour Bus though holds out the promise that one day Paul will just decide to rock up unannounced to be re-united with his bus after 50 years. If the bus had been ready we would have brought it to Glastonbury and Paul turned turned up there unannounced so it would have been the perfect venue for Paul to be re-united with his bus. Maybe one day soon….
THE BEATLES ROOFTOP CONCERT INSPIRED McCARTNEY STAGE
The Beatles Rooftop Concert Inspired McCartney Stage At The Classic Motor Show at The NEC. 3 days of Beatles-McCartney tributes. Now ready to host more performances. more…
THE McCARTNEY CREATIVE SONG-WRITING SUITE – THE TOUCHSTONE OF THE GENIUS
How amazing and creatively inspiring it could be to spend time in The McCartney Creative Song-Writing Suite – The Touchstone Of The Genius and especially in Paul’s favourite the actual seat occupied for 7,500 miles by ‘Music’s Greatest’ Paul McCartney and just let the creativity flow – more…
THE MECHANICAL OVERHAUL
Full service and mechanical overhaul completed – The Mechanical Overhaul
THE DESTINATION BLIND
Paul’s original was found in situ on the bus and is safely stored away. An exact replica has been made – The Destination Blind
THE TOP DECK COVER
In the style of Paul’s Wings Over America trucks the top deck cover displays the 1972 Wings Tour Bus logo so the news helicopters can make the most of it – The Top Deck Cover
PLATFORM SECURITY DOOR
A special custom security door has been fitted to secure the platform. Platform Security Door
ORIGINAL PARTS SAVED
Original panels and other parts off the bus have been saved and can be turned into art installations / souvenir products / auctioned etc.
LIPA – LIVERPOOL INSTITUTE OF PERFORMING ARTS
Proposal to LIPA – Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts outlining how The Beatles Rooftop Concert Inspired McCartney Stage could be used for student songwriting inspiration and end of term performances at LIPA and other seats of learning – more…
INVITATIONS & HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Invitations and Honourable Mentions to museums, events etc. more…
In contact with and updating Paul McCartney’s company MPL since 2019.
BOOKS & PUBLICATIONS
Books and publications that have featured the bus.
GUEST BOOK – TESTIMONIALS FROM THE CLASSIC MOTOR SHOW AT THE NEC
Visitors and VIP guests signed the Guest Book – Testimonials and we thank you for the great comments and testimonials. Honoured guests included Howie Casey who played with Paul McCartney & Wings and Denis Chick Communications Director for General Motors. Some great photo’s also – more…
FBHVC – THE FEDERATION OF BRITISH HISTORIC VEHICLE CLUBS
250,000 members in the UK with millions worldwide.
FBHVC have documented the progress of the restoration in their bi-monthly glossy colour magazines since Christmas 2020 – more…
Big thanks to FBHVC President David Whale, Secretary Emma Balaam and the other members who wrote such great messages in the NEC Guest Book
HISTORIC VEHICLE UK ROAD TAX STATUS
DENNY SEIWELL’S TRUNK
Wings drummer Denny sends us a wonderful message and donates to the project the trunk he used 50 years ago on the 1972 Wings Over Europe Tour – more…
QR CODES
A selection of QR codes to web pages of interest – more…
DOING ‘THE WINGS’
Paul used to do ‘The Wings’ with his hands. After seeing a Dad showing his little girl how to do The Wings an imprint of Paul’s hands has been art-worked on to the bus in true Hollywood style – more…
DOING ‘THE LINDA’
There’s a great photo taken inside the bus of Linda trying to point baby Stella to the camera – At The NEC the ladies enjoyed doing their own version of ‘The Linda’ – more…
TOP DECK COVER
In the style of Paul’s Wings Over America trucks the newly designed top deck cover displays the 1972 Wings Tour Bus logo so the news helicopters can make the most of it – more…
THE HARD ROCK CAFE – PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS WERE THE VERY FIRST BAND TO ROCK AT THE HARD ROCK
Paul McCartney & Wings launched the music at the very first Hard Rock Cafe in London in 1973 just months after the Wings over Europe Tour so the bus occupies a unique place in Hard Rock Cafe history. more…
Hard Rock Cafe website reads:
THE FIRST LIVE MUSIC
You can’t claim to be a Hard Rock Cafe without adding in the music, can you? The first live performance there was Sir Paul McCartney making his public debut with Wings. Something as epic as a Beatle debuting his new band was something only Hard Rock Cafe could host. – more…
It was also suggested to Hard Rock Cafe that as they have franchises in the 9 countries that 1972 Wings Tour Bus brought Paul, family and Wings to they may be interested in the promotional value of re-creating the tour and having the bus sprinkle that Beatles-McCartney stardust all over Europe for them – more…
MERCHANDISING
1972 Wings Tour Busketeer Badges have proved very popular. Design files and supplier information are available – more…
3D Model:
Print ready 3D model – more…
Artwork version with top deck furnishings – more…
T-Shirts etc. designs available, i.e. Hard Rock Cafe – 1972 Wings Tour Bus – more…
Digital Collectibles – NFT’s – Non fungible tokens. A company working with Man United are very keen to work with the bus as they see a big opportunity.
TOP QUOTES & ANECDOTES
PAUL McCARTNEY
“We knew we were going to tour in Europe and that the weather would be nice, and the idea of being stuck in a bus all the time, going from city to city, hotel to hotel, wasn’t too appealing so we decided to travel around in an open-top bus and got some sunshine as we traveled from one place to another.” – Paul McCartney
“If we’re gonna be in Europe in the summer going to places like the south of France it’s just silly to be in some little box all day gasping for air so we came up with this idea to have an open deck, upper deck kind of thing. We’ve got some mattresses up there so we can just cruise along, fantastic, lie around & get the sun.” – Paul McCartney
“We painted the outside psychedelic, like a magic bus,” McCartney says of their tour transport on that halcyon trip. “If you look at it very straight, very conventionally, it was quite a mad thing to do, to put a playpen on the top deck of the bus and put all the children in there while driving around Europe. It was not what you’d expect from a normal band. But we weren’t a normal band.” – Paul McCartney
In 2017 Paul McCartney tweeted to his millions of followers, “We’ve heard that the 1972 Wings Tour Bus is back on the road in the UK. Have info on this? Send us a DM!” – more…
MPL (Sir Paul McCartney’s Company)
October 2019 we received an email from MPL. “We would like to wish you the best of luck with the refurbishment and please do send photographs when the bus is completed.”
Paul McCartney’s 1972 Wings Tour Bus – national treasure – international treasure occupying a unique and pivotal place in rock and roll history.
“This international treasure, a living museum on wheels, is parked firmly at the intersection of timeless, chart-topping music, rock and roll, a time-capsule of art and classically beautiful automotive design heritage”…anon
Unlimited merchandising potential.
Beatles authority Steve Bradley is quoted as saying about 1972 Wings Tour Bus.
“Many of us have a big collection of Beatles memorabilia… but only one fan in the whole world has a double-decker bus with a Beatles connection – Tom Jennings.”
“The world’s biggest Beatles collectible” – Steve Bradley – Beatles Authority.
more…
70 years of transport of the people motoring heritage.
50 years iconic and historic connection to the biggest rock star in the world.
Connections to: The Beatles, Paul McCartney, Hollywood’s Roger Moore 007 and Julie Andrews, TV’s Cilla Black, Football’s Trevor Brooking, The 1970 World Cup Team and The F.A. Cup. more…
DISCLAIMER
Photographs of Paul McCartney, The Beatles, Linda McCartney, The McCartney family and Wings etc. are the property of MPL and are not included in any inventory.
To use these images rights must be secured.