The Time John Bonham Impulsively Paid $85,000 Cash for a Car to Embarrass the Salesman
Led Zeppelin wouldn’t have been the same without John Bonham. On the flip side, the drummer’s life wouldn’t have been the same without the band. Zep bassist John Paul Jones said Bonham never got the credit he deserved in the band, but he did get the paychecks. The group’s astounding success led to a financial windfall, which Bonham once used to impulsively spend $85,000 cash on a luxury car.
John Bonham freely spent his Led Zeppelin money
Bonham grew up in a middle-class household. His dad owned a building and construction business, and the family was well-off but not necessarily wealthy. That changed for John Bonham when Led Zeppelin made it big.
The drummer, who always managed to make ends meet growing up, splurged with his newfound wealth. He upgraded his drums, purchasing several Ludwig kits (though only one included two bass drums), writes C.M. Kushins in the biography Beast. Bonzo later purchased a working farm near Birmingham.
Chalk up the drums to being a work expense. The farm was an upgrade for him and his family. The $85,000 cash Bonham spent on a car? That impulsive move aligned with one of his other great passions.
Bonham spent $85,000 cash on a car to show up a condescending salesman
Bonham loved cars almost as much as he loved drumming and his family. Bonzo upgraded his garage just as he upgraded his homestead and drum kits.
“John loved cars,” Led Zeppelin road manager Richard Cole said, per Kushins. “Bonham bought 26 cars in the band’s first successful year in 1969, [then] he’d get bored with them. One day, he’d turn up in a Maserati, and the next day it would be a Jensen, an E-type Jaguar, or a Rolls-Royce … The car dealers in Birmingham loved him.”
The car dealers in England expected a payday when Bonham walked in, but it wasn’t the same in the United States. Bonzo set out to change that.
During downtime on one U.S. tour, Bonham, Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant, and roadie Henry Smith walked into a Rolls-Royce dealership in Los Angeles, Kushins writes. A condescending salesman tried to move the drummer along. Bonham (with Grant’s help) produced $85,000 in cash and bought the car on the spot:
“‘Sonny, don’t put your hands on it unless you can pay for it,’ the salesman said.
‘How much is it then?’ Bonham asked.
‘Eighty-five thousand dollars,’ the man said.
John immediately turned to Grant. ‘Peter, quick, give me eighty-five grand.'”
That Bonzo loved cars was no surprise. His clips in the Led Zeppelin film The Song Remains the Same included him polishing a roadster and driving a drag racing car. The fact Bonham paid $85,000 in cash for a car to upstage a snotty salesman is a bit of a shock, especially because the drummer didn’t have a chance to drive it in LA while on tour. That $85,000 Bonham paid (assuming he spent it in 1970) translates to more than $640,000 in 2022, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator.
Bonzo found an ingenious way to make money before he was rich
Led Zeppelin made Bonham rich enough to pay $85,000 cash for a car on a whim. The drummer found a brilliant way to pad his wallet before he made his fortune.
Even though his drum mentor never thought he was that good, Bonham found steady work gigging as a young drummer. His massive talent and affable personality ensured he always had opportunities to play live. Yet he was lucky if his dad let him use a work van to drive to a show.
When luck won out, Bonham asked a friend to serve as his roadie. At least for a while. Bonham’s genius money-making move pre-Led Zeppelin was to fire his friend and pocket his roadie salary for himself. He earned extra money and the knowledge about how to set up and tune a drum kit properly.
There was no reason to cost-cut costs a few years later. Led Zeppelin’s success meant John Bonham could pay $85,000 for a car on a whim and have plenty left over.
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