BMW Once Restored Elvis Presley's BMW 507 Roadster
Read the full story on Backfire News
Almost a decade ago BMW made a huge stir when it revealed Elvis Presley's fully restored BMW 507. The little white roadster was a thing of legend, a ride owned by none other than the King of Rock himself while he was serving in the military over in Germany. But for decades it disappeared and nobody seemed to know where it went.What so many didn't know was the classic German car, worth millions of dollars, was just sitting in a warehouse in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, in horrific condition. That alone is amazing to think about.
The car itself was already a celebrity before Elvis bought it. That very one was shown at the Frankfurt International Motor Show in 1957, wowing the crowd. Then Hans Stuck competed in several races behind the wheel before the white roadster was used for press test drives and video shots.
It wasn't until December 1958 that a dealer in Frankfurt sold the 507 to Elvis Presley, who later had it painted red. After he was done with his tour of duty, in March 1960 the Bimmer was shipped back to the US.
Eventually, it changed hands rapidly several times, slipping into obscurity. It turns out an engineer named Jack Castor bought it back in 1968 and he kept it hidden away. The guy had been able to ascertain the roadster was raced by Hans Stuck, but he didn't know about it being owned by Elvis.
Once that fact was uncovered, BMW Group Classic made him an offer he couldn't refuse (we can only imagine how many zeroes there were). Then the automaker got to work painstakingly restoring the BMW 507.
The finished product was revealed during Monterey Car Week in 2016, showing off to the public the beautiful, celebrity-owned roadster. The automaker also released photos of the restoration process, and now we have a short video sequence of it. This is truly the stuff of automotive history.
Images via BMW
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