The BMW 507 is one of the most beautiful cars ever built, and it nearly destroyed the company that made it. Only 252 were produced between 1956 and 1959, each hand-built in aluminium and priced so far above plan that every sale lost money. It bankrupted the project, almost took BMW down with it, and is now a multi-million-dollar blue chip.
Why did the BMW 507 almost bankrupt BMW?
It cost far more to build than anyone intended, so BMW lost money on every car. The plan was an affordable sports car for America, but hand-forming each aluminium body and fitting a bespoke V8 pushed the price to more than double the target, and at that money it could not sell in the numbers needed.
The damage was real. Only 252 were built instead of the thousands hoped for, the losses deepened a crisis that had BMW close to collapse by 1959, and the company was nearly absorbed by Daimler-Benz before a rescue saved it. The 507 was a masterpiece the firm could not afford to make.
Who designed the BMW 507?
Count Albrecht von Goertz designed it, a German-born designer working in New York, and it remains his most famous work. He gave the 507 long, clean flanks, a low grille split into the twin BMW kidneys and a shape that still looks modern seventy years later.
The idea came from the same man behind the Mercedes Gullwing's American launch. The importer Max Hoffman, who had persuaded Mercedes to build the road-going 300 SL Gullwing, pushed BMW to create a rival he could sell to wealthy Americans, and he brought in von Goertz to draw it.
What is under the skin?
A 3.2-litre aluminium V8 gave the 507 around 150 bhp and a top speed near 120 mph. The engine was light and smooth, the body was hand-beaten aluminium over a shortened saloon chassis, and the whole car was built more like a piece of coachwork than a production model.
That craftsmanship was the problem and the appeal at once. Every 507 was effectively made by hand, which ruined the economics but gives the surviving cars the quality and rarity that collectors now pay so heavily for.
What is the Elvis Presley connection?
Elvis Presley bought a 507 while stationed in Germany with the US Army in 1958, and it became the most famous example of all. The car passed through several owners and was later found in a poor state in the United States, its original engine long gone.
BMW itself restored it. The company took the Elvis car back to the factory, rebuilt it to original specification and unveiled it in 2016, turning a tired survivor into a celebrated piece of the model's history and a reminder of how far its reputation had travelled.
How much is a BMW 507 worth?
A good BMW 507 now trades between two and three million dollars, remarkable for a car that lost money when new. Values tracked by collector-car insurer Hagerty place clean, original cars firmly in seven figures, with celebrity or documented-history examples higher still (checked August 2026).
Rarity does most of the work. With only 252 built, a documented original is genuinely scarce, and scarcity paired with beauty is exactly what sits at the top of our guide to what makes a classic car worth millions.
Where does the 507 sit in the quiet-luxury canon?
The 507 belongs through pure design, a car collected for its shape more than its speed. It is understated and beautifully made, the same qualities that make the Jaguar E-Type so admired, and it wears its rarity quietly rather than shouting it.
It also carries a rare kind of story: the beautiful object that cost its maker dearly. Owning a 507 is owning proof that BMW once built something too good for its own good, which is its own form of prestige.
Frequently asked questions
How many BMW 507s were made? Only 252 between 1956 and 1959, each hand-built in aluminium, which makes it one of the rarest post-war BMWs.
Did the BMW 507 really almost bankrupt BMW? It contributed heavily to a late-1950s crisis. Losing money on every car deepened BMW's troubles, and the company was nearly taken over by Daimler-Benz before a rescue in 1959.
Who owned the most famous BMW 507? Elvis Presley, who bought one in Germany in 1958; BMW later restored that car and showed it in 2016.
