BMW 507 – #70205

And now?

We first came across this BMW 507 in 2015, when it was offered by RM Sotheby’s in New York. 2.3 to 2.6 million dollars were expected, at that time a quite common price for a good 507. At the time, the word on the black car, which was not sold then, was: ‘very likely in the colours it is presented in today’. In 2021, Bonhams offered the black BMW, with interesting information such as ‘is offered from nearly 30-year custodianship’, but also: ‘On close inspection today, lovely silver blue metallic paint can be found underneath the dash area, which quite possibly would have been the color the car was finished in from new’. Perhaps the wrong colour (and the replacement engine…) was the reason why this 507 was sold for ‘only’ $1,809,000.

And now it’s back, the BMW 507 with chassis number #70205, now (February 2025) on Bring A Trailer. It says, for example: ‘This 1959 BMW 507 is one of approximately 250 examples built during three years of production and is believed to have been delivered new in the US before appearing in Staten Island, New York, in the 1960s. After spending the ensuing decades in New York, chassis 70205 is said to have undergone a refurbishment in the late 1980s that included a repaint in black before remaining under the stewardship of a collector between the early 1990s and 2021. The car then received an additional refurbishment that included a repaint in its current shade of blue and a re-trim of the interior in tan leather before being purchased in Germany by the owning dealer in 2024 .’ Or: “This example’s body is said to have been stripped to bare metal before receiving welding repairs to various panels during the 2021 refurbishment. The car was then repainted using Glasurit finishes in Silver Blue, reportedly its original shade.” It doesn’t sound totally convincing.

Well, BMW could shed some light on the matter. But the Bavarians, who have access to all the data, apparently don’t want to. We know this from Mercedes (where all the mysteries surrounding the 300 SL could easily be solved) and also from Porsche, where it is at its worst. But they probably shy away from the work. Or they only do it for a lot of cash; in this respect, Ferrari Classiche, where even the most atrocious of cars can be turned into gold for the right price, is probably a role model for Stuttgart, both south and north. We have plenty of ‘good’ classics in our archive.