For Sale at Auction: 1958 BMW 507 in Carmel, California

Chassis No. 70143
Engine No. 40151
Transmission No. 794
Body No. 1142

August 1955. Just weeks before its official debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show, an extraordinary new automobile takes center stage beneath the soaring Art Deco towers of Manhattan's Waldorf=Astoria Hotel on Park Avenue. The setting is no coincidence. It is where visionary importer Max Hoffman wants BMW's latest creation to make its American debut.

Few individuals shaped America's postwar appetite for European automobiles more profoundly than Hoffman. Endowed with an uncanny instinct for what affluent buyers desired, he repeatedly convinced automotive manufacturers to develop stylish, niche models that they had never considered producing. Mercedes-Benz's 300 SL and Porsche's 356 Speedster both owe much of their existence to his vision. Convinced there was room between the sporting Speedster and the highly exclusive 300 SL for a refined, stylish grand touring roadster, Hoffman turned to BMW.

Still rebuilding after the devastation of World War II, BMW embraced the opportunity. The Bavarian manufacturer envisioned the 507 as the car that would win over America's prosperous postwar clientele and restore the marque's international prestige.

Hoffman also influenced the car's appearance. Dissatisfied with BMW's initial proposal by Ernst Loof, he championed a young German-born designer living in the United States, Albrecht von Goertz, a protege of the legendary industrial designer Raymond Loewy. The result was one of the most graceful automotive designs of the twentieth century.

Every surface of the 507 roadster exudes understated sophistication. Its long hood, sweeping flanks, and elegantly restrained proportions are anchored by a dramatic reinterpretation of BMW's signature twin-kidney grille. Beneath the sculpture-like aluminum body, each panel painstakingly hand-formed in Munich, lay an equally ambitious mechanical package. Engineer Fritz Fiedler developed an all-aluminum 3.2-liter V8 producing 150 horsepower, paired with a four-speed ZF transmission. Ingeniously, the four-speed was mounted farther rearward in the chassis, improving weight distribution while creating additional footwell space by eliminating the need for a long transmission tunnel.

BMW's pursuit of perfection came at a tremendous cost. Hand-built aluminum coachwork proved enormously expensive to produce, while development of the all-new V8 further inflated the budget. Even after the selling price climbed from Hoffman's original target to $9,500-and ultimately exceeded $10,000-the 507 remained unprofitable.

Its commercial fortunes, however, did little to diminish its appeal. The 507 quickly became a favorite among an elite circle of celebrities, royalty, and sporting icons. Elvis Presley famously became enamored with the model during his military service in Germany and is said to have bought two examples. French screen legend Alain Delon, the cinema icon celebrated for his magnetic charisma, timeless elegance, and exceptional beauty, embodied the effortless European sophistication that the BMW 507 so perfectly represented. A distinguished name among those associated with the model, Delon added a layer of cinematic glamour to its already rarefied mystique, and the car featured on these pages is very likely to have once belonged to him. Delon was, as usual, in good company with 1964 Formula 1 World Champion John Surtees, Prince Rainier III of Monaco, and King Baudouin of Belgium also counted among its distinguished owners.

Ironically, while the glamorous 507 struggled to find buyers, BMW's licensed production of the tiny Italian-designed Isetta microcar became an extraordinary commercial success. The contrast could hardly have been greater. Confused brand positioning and the 507's extraordinary price ultimately limited production to just 254 examples.

Today, that limited commercial success has become one of the model's greatest strengths. With only 254 examples built, the 507 occupies an exceptionally exclusive place among postwar sports cars, combining breathtaking rarity with timeless design. Few automobiles possess the ability to captivate at first glance quite like a 507. Its influence endured well into the modern era, serving as the unmistakable inspiration for the early 2000s BMW Z8, its spiritual successor, arriving more than four decades later.

Completed on 12 June 1958 in Munich, as one of the final Series II BMW 507s, chassis number 70143 was delivered later that summer to one of Europe's most remarkable automotive addresses: Rome's Casa dell'Automobili in Italy, finished in elegant Dolomite Gray, an appropriate choice, as the route from Munich to Rome winds through the Alps and the Dolomites.

Completed in the late 1920s, the Casa dell'Automobili was one of Italy's most striking expressions of automotive modernity. Inspired by the department stores and office towers of early twentieth-century New York, the ten-story structure was designed to accommodate up to 1,000 automobiles, including 750 private garages equipped with telephone, compressed air, and water connections. Its ambitious design reflected a forward-looking vision of the automobile's place in modern life.

The Alps would become a familiar route. Some years later, the 507 crossed them once again en route to Switzerland, where it was offered for public sale in Geneva in March 1973. The original sale catalogue, presenting it as a former possession of the celebrated French actor Alain Delon, still accompanies the car. Further research could shed additional light on the car's history and provide definitive confirmation of this provenance. A favorite of Europe's leading filmmakers, Delon appeared in numerous Italian productions and had developed a deep affection for the country, where he settled in the 1960s. The car is said to have been subsequently acquired by a prominent Swiss BMW dealer, who is believed to have restored it in Chiasso. Photographs that depict an older restoration were later reproduced in Superfinds: A Truly Unique Selection of Previously Unseen Photographs of Important Historic Cars As Found in the 1960s and 1970s by Michael Kliebenstein, 2020. In 2013, it crossed the Alps yet again, this time bound for Northern Europe, where, still retaining its matching-numbers engine, it was sold by a BMW specialist to a private collector and became the centerpiece of an outstanding private museum devoted to the Bavarian marque. Among carefully curated highlights ranging from the 1920s to the present, including a 328 Roadster, an 850 CSi prototype, and a Z8, the 507 stood as the collection's undisputed jewel. The current owner acquired the car from the museum in 2022 and finally returned it to the market for which it had been originally conceived, importing it to the United States.

Awaiting its next caretaker, who will undoubtedly recommission it for the road and enjoy it at prestigious concours, exclusive events, or simply on spirited drives, this beautifully restored BMW 507, accompanied by its original owner's manual and retaining its matching-numbers engine-as confirmed by the BMW Classic Birth Certificate on file-ranks among the most significant and collectible automobiles ever produced. The opportunity to further explore and confirm its remarkable provenance only adds to its enduring appeal.