1957 BMW 507 Roadster

The BMW 507 was conceived by U.S. automobile importer Max Hoffman who in 1954 persuaded BMW to produce a roadster for the American market. The 507 was Germany's answer to the Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder and was built on a shortened chassis frame from the BMW 503. The body was almost entirely hand-formed of aluminum and no two models were exactly the same. Many cars were sold with a hand-built removable hardtop, but because of the car-to-car differences, each hardtop only fitted the car for which it was made. This early Series 1 car has the narrow rear parcel shelf that was only seen on the first series of these BMW 507s.

BMW produced 254 of the 507 cars and almost all of them have survived to the present day. This car was a demonstration car for prospective customers at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1957. After that it served as a test car for international automobile magazines and even played a role in a full-length feature movie. Race car driver Hans Stuck (Senior) presented the car to potential customers and was also very successful competing at hillclimbs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In December 1958 it was sold to Elvis Presley who had just embarked on his military service in Germany. Because the car was continuously being daubed with lipstick messages by female fans, Elvis had it painted red. In 1960, the car surfaced in the United States where it had been fitted with a Chevrolet engine. After changing hands a number of times it was purchased by aircraft engineer Jack Castor from California in 1968 and he held on to the automobile for decades. In 2014, shortly before Castor passed away, BMW Group Classic acquired the roadster, which had become somewhat battered. A comprehensive restoration it has returned this roadster to the condition at the time of delivery to Elvis Presley.