A fascinating story that you won’t find in Baz Luhrmann’s biopic. On March 24, 1958, Elvis Aaron Presley, a global celebrity and rock’n’roll star, joined the US Army. Stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, Presley completed the Young Fighter course before being sent overseas.
On October 1, 1958, Elvis continued his service at the U.S. military base in Friedberg, West Germany. He was 23 years old, young, rich, and famous. Elvis Presley, a private in the 1st tank battalion of the 32nd armored Regiment of the 3rd Division, did not have a barrack life – unlike his ordinary colleagues, he could live as a civilian. He chose the resort town of Bad Nauheim, 30 minutes north of Frankfurt and a 10-minute drive from the military base, the so-called Ray Barracks. To drive to work, Elvis needed a car – at first it was a VW Beetle, but then he wanted something more interesting.
Elvis and his BMW
In December 1958, Elvis visited BMW dealers in Frankfurt at Autohaus Wurth and took a ride in a used BMW 507 Feather White, which they had recently purchased. He immediately caught fire and decided by all means to buy a car here and now. It took too long to wait for a new one, so within a few days, this copy was put in order for him and on December 21, a solemn ceremony was held to present the BMW to the King. Elvis probably gave himself a Christmas present.
The price was twice as low as the new 507 – $3750 instead of $7160. The contract was in German, and Presley thought he was buying a car, but in reality he only leased it, which ended with the end of its service. For the next 18 months, Elvis drove his BMW daily along the Bad Nauheim route, Goetestrasse 14 – Friedberg and the surrounding area.
In the summer, he decided to repaint the car red – fans constantly left notes with lipstick on the white body to their idol. As Ernst Pepel recalled – he owned a garage in Bad Nauheim and was engaged in painting – Elvis wanted “fiery red”. After scrolling through the catalog of available colors, they settled on Porsche Red. Years later, Ernst remembered Elvis as “his best friend.”
In March 1960, after completing his service, the King of Rock and Roll returned home to the United States and later that year his red sports car was brought to him. It would seem that everything could go wrong, but in 1962, Elvis handed over a BMW 507 (perhaps he was told that he would repeat the fate of James Dean with it, or perhaps there were problems with spare parts) to a Chrysler dealer in New York, from where Tommy Charles from Alabama, a radio DJ and hot dog lover, got the roadster.delivery – for just $3,500!
BMW 507 after Elvis
The new owner did what many customizers do: he replaced the engine by putting a Chevy V8 Borg-Warner instead of a 3.2-liter BMW and changed the gearbox and rear axle, as well as the seats and dials on the dashboard (after all, in America miles instead of kilometers). He decided to use the 507 for drag racing. Today, when BMW 507s are sold for millions of dollars, it looks almost sacrilegious. It is worth mentioning that in 1960, the 507 was discontinued – the roadster was unsuccessful – the company planned to sell 5,000 units annually, but in the end, from 1956 to 1960, it sold only 254. The auto giant was on the verge of collapse, and only the help of German industrialist Herbert Quandt saved BMW from bankruptcy, giving the opportunity to catch up with the production of a subcompact BMW 700.
More resales followed, and in 1966 the car was bought by pilot Lloyd Cottle, who gave a Ferrari 250 GTE and $1,500 in cash for it. In 1968, the car ended up in California with aviation engineer Jack Castor. Castor used the King’s car as an everyday one, but eventually locked it in the garage in 1974 along with the rest of his collection of cars and bicycles, hoping to restore it one day, even collecting spare parts for it.
30 years later, he responded to an article by journalist Jackie Jure in Bimmer magazine about Elvis’ lost BMW, who came to the car owner in Half Moon Bay near San Francisco and found the roadster in a pumpkin warehouse in a depressing condition: the King’s carriage had turned into a pumpkin. The engine and bearing parts of the chassis were missing. We managed to find out the original VIN of the chassis – 70079.
The BMW 507 that came off the assembly line had the number M-JX 800. The BMW bought by Elvis had the registration number F-04071, assigned by the dealer. The photo with Elvis shows the army plates A-1499, then changed to G-1620. BMW Group archivists have restored the entire chain, after which there is no doubt that 70079 is the same Elvis car.
BMW History #70079
Legendary racing driver Hans Stuck, who won the Grand Prix before the war in no less legendary Auto Union cars, was the first owner of this BMW 507. As a BMW ambassador, he traveled around Europe with the 507, presenting the roadster at the London Motor Show in 1957, then went to Belgium to make a presentation to King Baudouin, confident that the royal person would order a novelty for his collection.
Hans Pieces next to the new BMW 507 #70079
After that, Italy and the Turin auto show were waiting for him. The white BMW 507 even starred in the feature film Hula-Hopp Conny, after which he returned to his favorite pastime – racing. From May to August 1958, Stuckus, known by the nickname Bergmeister “King of the Mountain”, took part in the European Hillclimb Championship and won several races in the GT class. After that, Hans switched to the BMW 700 promotion campaign and even won the German championship on the 700RS in 1960, being almost 60 years old!
After such an active sports career, the BMW 507, number 70079, found a place in the BMW showroom in Frankfurt in the fall of 1958, awaiting a new owner. That’s where Elvis spotted him.
Return To Sender: The Return Of The BMW 507 King
After several years of negotiations, the BMW 507 was purchased by BMW Group Classic in 2014 and restored by Bavarian experts led by Klaus Kutscher and Axel Klinger-Koechnlein. BMW specialists solved a truly non-trivial task by restoring a 60-year-old car in the absence of most of the original parts, the replicas of which were recreated according to the original drawings.
Jack Castor hands over the keys to Klaus Kutscher
Moreover, as part of their agreement with Castor, they restored his second BMW 507 with the number 70089 for free. Unfortunately, Jack Castor never saw the result of the restoration, having died in November 2014 at the age of 77.
In the summer of 2016, Elvis’ BMW was unveiled at the prestigious Concours d’Elegance auto show in Pebble Beach, California. After the presentation, the sports car returned to its homeland and is currently on display in a separate room at the BMW Museum in Munich. Its value is estimated at more than $ 2 million. But we know that the King’s legacy is priceless.
