BMW – 507 Touring Sport (1957)

The BMW 507 was developed following a suggestion by Max Hoffman, who was responsible for inspiring and importing a lot of superlative European cars to the USA including the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, Porsche 356 Speedster and Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider. He had excellent insights into the sort of automobiles the American motoring clientele was yearning for and his import business to the USA covered all marques. Max Hoffman also set up the contact between BMW and Albrecht Graf von Goertz. The German designer lived in New York where he had learnt a great deal from legendary industrial designer Raymond Loewy, empowering him to create an epic design of unsurpassed elegance. Incidentally, Goertz also styled the much more luxurious BMW 503 Coupé presented at the same time. This was an era when BMW offered no luxury coupés, let alone sports cars. The 503 and 507 were displayed at the IAA International Motor Show in Frankfurt in 1955 and show­boated as a visual and technical sensation. They also propelled BMW into a completely new league. The famous 3.2 litre V8 had a chassis worthy of such a mighty powerplant – no other German manufacturer offered an eight-cylinder engine in Germany during the 1950s. Company boss Hanns Grewenig enthusiastically telegraphed Goertz in New York: “The 507 is the star of the show. Congratulations!” Graf Goertz had not even bothered to come to Frankfurt for the motor show. The BMW 507 relieved buyers of DM 26,500, approximately the same amount that a client would have paid for the 300 SL by BMW’s rival up the motorway in Stuttgart. The engine housing and body were made of aluminium and brought the total weight down to 1,330 kilograms – despite the beefy engine and a fuel tank with room for 110 litres! BMW did not make any money on the 507 because production costs were far too high. This 507 from the rare first series of which only 34 cars were built was delivered new in May 1957 to Munich – so very close to home! It is one of only 14 examples finished in Old Ivory White out of all the 252 units made between 1956 and 1960 in two series. Two further rare options are the hardtop here painted in the colour of the body and the Rudge wheels.