When did Queen get their first big paycheck?

We all know theat Queen were on a fairly modest wage before A Night At The Opera came out and that any money the band made was either ploughed back into tours and recording (or went to management!) So when did they first come into some real money? I always assumed it was a few months after Bohemian Rhapsody came out once the royalties for the single and then album kicked in (I'm guessing maybe January 1976?) But I read something recently about Freddie buying a flashy car in 1975. I know he didn't drive but it was mentioned somewhere in the Queen Touring America book, possibly even a direct quote from a newspaper article. So did they have money before this? EMI threw down a wad of money to get them out of the Trident deal but presumably this went to Trident. So when did Queen really first get to live like rock royalty? Just curious.

ANATO and Bohemian Rhapsody were pivotal indeed, they were in a "make or break" moment around the time ANATO was being recorded, according to themselves I think.

I can't give you a date or anything, but I always found funny that time when John mentioned that it was cool being in a rock band and suddenly getting "all this money!". He said that early, probably after ANATO and before ADATR. I think that's on a documentary too, surely someone knows what I'm talking about.