George Harrison in his Ferrari Dino outside Friar Park in August 1978; photo by fan Denny Suba (image courtesy of Meet the Beatles for Real).
“We’d take a break [during Dark Horse recording sessions in 1974] to go for fish and chips, and there were two ways you could go. One was through this very winding road through the woods from Friar Park to the little fish place. And that’s the way we went. The first time, he took me in a Ferrari. Well, he really liked racing. I’m telling you, man, when we came back from getting our fish and chips, he drove through those winding roads as if he was on a racetrack. I mean really, really going for it. It was serious, and I’m holding on, thinking, ‘Wow, man, I sure hope we stay on the road because if we miss, we’re history.’ Well, we made it home in the Ferrari. The next time we went for fish and chips, he took a Porsche and he took the same route. The Porsche seemed to handle the road better, so he started speeding up. I just thought, ‘He’s such a fan of racing, I guess there’s this little racecar driver inside him.’ But then he really started going, and when we got into Friar Park we were really flying so fast that the car got away from him. There were these high hedges that lined the driveway to the garage, and we’re running through the hedges — and I just sat there acting as normal as I could, but I was praying, O Lord, please don’t let them read about us in the newspaper. Just get us back to the house. After he came out of the hedges, he shrugged and gave me a little laugh as though it never happened. I’m looking at George, and he just looks away like, Don’t say nothing. Well, we went into the house and neither of us ever said a word.” - Willie Weeks, Here Comes The Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison (2006) A note about this fan photo: “We congratulated him on the arrival of Dhani (pronounced ‘Danny’ I’ll never forget how he said it) and said how excited we all were when we heard the news. He gave a big grin and said, ‘Thanks, we think it’s pretty exciting.’ […] ‘Well, uh, we don’t want to keep you from what you’re doing…’ I started, to which George said, ‘It’s okay, really.’ I stepped away from the car and said, ‘No, we won’t keep you. Say hello for Olivia for me.’ He put the car in gear as he replied, ‘Yeah, I will. Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you later.’ He started to drive through the gates, slowed and shouted back, ‘Enjoy your holiday!’ and waved again as he left. As I watched the car disappear, I couldn’t believe that George had thanked US for stopping by when we had imposed on him in the first place!” - Sue Link, Harrison Alliance (January 1979)
















