Elvis Presley bought a BMW 507 during his military service in Germany.
Advertisement
BMW knows this, so they’ve undertaken a full restoration of the King’s chariot ahead of this year’s Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, and based on these photos they sure did a good job. BMW Group Classic spent an entire two years restoring the BMW to it’s original specifications and will present the vehicle to the public for the first time at Pebble Beach.
The King of Rock’n’Roll was evidently famous in the 507’s fatherland, and the young GI was overwhelmed with attention from his female fans, which often left messages with lipstick on his auto. Legend has it this was to stop adoring fans from scrawling their phone numbers on the side in lipstick. Not long after, he moved back to the U.S.in 1960 and off-loaded the BMW on a Chrysler dealer in NY, where it was sold for $4500 to a radio DJ. Charles went on to race the 507 with some success, but at a bad price – he removed the car’s 3.2-litre V8, and instead fitted a Chevrolet unit, which necessitated some intrusive modifications. It certainly was left as a mongrel rather than a pure-bred hound dog. After having made its way through multiple owners and losing its original engine and transmission somewhere along the way, the 507 found its way into the collection of a Californian, Jack Castor, who, with help, discovered its very famous one-time owner.
A journalist then discovered the auto, put Castor in touch with BMW’s classic department, and the rest is history. BMW was able to dig it up, then took two years to painstakingly restore it to the exact condition when Elvis bought it.
Advertisement
The engine was rebuilt using spare parts, and new instruments and upholstery had to be specially crafted. Mix together the handsome 507’s ultra-limited 254-car production run in the 1950s and, well, Elvis, and you have classic-car gold. As if it were possible to gild The King’s ownership of the 507, Elvis wasn’t the only famous man to cross paths with BMW 507, chassis no. 7079.
