The Magical Mystery Tour film starring The Beatles originally aired on BBC1 on December 26, 1967. The loosely scripted movie depicts a group of people including John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison & Ringo Starr on a random British mystery tour in a Bedford VAL Panorama coach bus.
Most of the scenes take place aboard the bus, so here are some details we gathered on the actual Magical Mystery Tour bus used by The Beatles in the film.
The bus is a Plaxton bodied 1959 Bedford Val Panorama Elite bus with the license plate URO 913E. This bus was new to coach company Fox of Hayes when leased by The Beatles for the film in 1967.
Most of the filming took place from September 11th though September 25th 1967. The tour bus itself was shot throughout the West Country of England, including Devon and Cornwall.
The Hard Rock Cafe acquired the actual Magical Mystery Tour bus in 1988 and it is the single biggest piece of rock n’ roll memorabilia they own. It took four months, 2,000 man-hours and a cost of $100,000 for Hard Rock to completely refurbish the bus using vintage parts to replicate the original designs and details. The bus is stored in the Hard Rock Cafe warehouse and is put on display for special occasions.
The Hard Rock Cafe offered the bus years ago as a prize in an Internet sweepstakes but apparently the winner chose the cash alternative so the bus remains with Hard Rock Cafe as Beatles memorabilia.
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