Beschreibung:

In the 1950s, car designers on both sides of the Atlantic produced some of the all-time greats of automotive styling, none of them more classically beautiful than the sublime BMW 507. Transatlantic in inspiration - aimed at the United States market, styled by a New York-domiciled German ex-patriot and built in Germany - the 507 reflected North American taste yet was unmistakably European in origin. The 507 tale began in 1954, when Austrian-born entrepreneur Max Hoffman, at that time the US importer of various European makes, convinced BMW that they should build a sportscar to rival Mercedes-Benz's successful 300SL. Hoffman knew just the man to style the car too: Count Albrecht von Goertz, an independent industrial designer who had worked for the legendary Raymond Loewy on the latter's trend-setting Studebakers. Designer of everything from fountain pens to furniture, Goertz had never before styled an entire car, and post-507 would not work for BMW again until the 1980s, by which time he had produced another classic automobile: Datsun's 240Z. The fundamental elements of BMW's proposed new sportscar already existed in their range, most notably the 3.2 Liter, all aluminum V8 engine which was installed in a shortened chassis for the 507. With a robust chassis countered by aluminum bodywork, 150bhp was on tap and the car was capable of around 125 mph with 60 mph coming up in 11 seconds. For relaxed cruising, the 507 had few peers, its state of the art V8 delivering ample torque over a wide rev range. BMW missed Hoffman's $5,000 price target by a wide margin, which meant that the 507's initial US selling price was set at $9,000, more than double the cost of a Ford Thunderbird or Chevrolet Corvette. Even Mercedes-Benz's 300 SL was cheaper, which didn't help sales. The smart money knew style and quality when they saw it and for them BMW's svelte roadster was the car to be seen in: rock legend Elvis Presley, motorcycling World Champion John Surtees film stars Alain Delon and Ursula Andress, skiing champion Toni Sailer, Prince Rainier of Monaco and the Aga Khan all being owners at one time or another. In a 3 year production run, just 252 of these beautiful German sportscars were sold. According to BMW Mobile Tradition's Certificate of Authenticity provided to former owner Stephen Block chassis 70038 was sold new in Germany in May 1957 to agents Auto-Fels of Mannheim. It was delivered in Ivory white paint, though its interior is not listed, and was equipped with a Becker Mexico radio and manual antenna, as well as a hard top. In the early 1980s it was acquired by serial 507 collector Dr. Jack Frasher of Greenville, SC, from Dr. K.W. Ballentine of Fayetteville, NC. Bonhams recently traced Dr. Ballentine and he recalled his car collection fondly which he said was quite large and included other prominent cars such as a Ferrari 250 SWB California Spyder. He remembered having purchased the 507 from Orange County, CA, and mentioned that it already had the front disc brakes and hard top. He felt that his ownership had lasted for a few years, possibly a decade, which would place it in California in the mid-1970s, though when it arrived in America has yet to be established. In 1986, the car passed from Frasher back across the Atlantic into the ownership of another enthusiast of the marque and model, Ulrich Sauer. Mr. Sauer and his son Martin recall the car to have been particularly original, it already had been upgraded to front wheel brakes and was complete with the hard top it retains to this day. While a little 'scruffy' they recall that it was perfectly usable, and it provided a good touring car which they exercised on a number of road events. In around 2000, mindful that 507 was by now in need of a restoration, in preference they chose to sell it and acquire a ready to use example. It was sold during the Techno Classica in 1999 and shortly after this returned to the U.S. Around this time it was presented by Brooks/Bonhams at a Florida aucti