Author Topic: (NGC) BMW 507 Restoration  (Read 1537 times)

Offline wirespokes

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(NGC) BMW 507 Restoration
« on: December 10, 2018, 03:40:12 PM »
High end restoration. I'd never seen a car acid dipped before. Hate to think what this restoration cost!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fDzNIBYkwU

Offline arveno

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Re: (NGC) BMW 507 Restoration
« Reply #1 on: December 10, 2018, 03:49:55 PM »
What’s left of Elvis car ?
I wouldn’t have touched it , just make it roadworthy but they went way too far

Just my opinion...

 :popcorn:


Online Perazzimx14

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Re: (NGC) BMW 507 Restoration
« Reply #2 on: December 10, 2018, 05:56:01 PM »
Labor costs shouldn't be too bad it only took 43 minutes from beginning to end :shocked:
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Offline dxhall

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Re: (NGC) BMW 507 Restoration
« Reply #3 on: December 10, 2018, 10:16:37 PM »
Acid dipping has been around for a long time, but isn’t used much any more.  It’s too hard to get all of the solution out of the body.  Media blasting works better.

There’s also a bit of a trick in deciding how long to leave the body in the acid.  Ever wonder why one of Mark Donahue’s Trans Am Camaros had a vinyl top?  It was because they acid dipped the body to reduce weight (the suspension was tied to to the roll cage) and left it in too long.  The roof was so thin they couldn’t get it flat.  Since acid dipping wasn’t legal, they hid the sin with a vinyl top.

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Re: (NGC) BMW 507 Restoration
« Reply #3 on: December 10, 2018, 10:16:37 PM »

Offline Tusayan

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Re: (NGC) BMW 507 Restoration
« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2018, 10:44:54 PM »
My impression of BMW car collectors and German shops of the type that restored this car is that they would see the Elvis history as a footnote in the history of the car, and that it 'should' be restored exactly as it left the factory in Munich.  That is really a matter of taste but I don't think Elvis history is as important to German BMW restorers as it might be to some others. A 507 is a very valuable car without any celebrity history, and perfect factory originality generally makes it more valuable.  Only the market really knows...

I know a collector in Germany who has a 507, a 328 and two M1s among a lot of other BMWs and other vehicles.  He has a connection with BMW but also had a Ferrari 275 GTB once owned by Grace Kelly.  He sold it because he needed to buy his first house!  Prior to that he'd lived in the small hotel his family owns and runs.  The 507 is a beautiful car but my favorite of the BMWs he owns is the pre-war 328.

That said, living about a mile or so from the collection I mentioned above is a old man who was in the Army with Elvis (in Germany).  It made a huge lifelong impression on him and he's been a fan of '50s Americana ever since.  He has an early 50s Cadillac, not a BMW :grin: 
« Last Edit: December 10, 2018, 10:52:35 PM by Tusayan »

Offline stubbie

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Re: (NGC) BMW 507 Restoration
« Reply #5 on: December 10, 2018, 10:47:45 PM »
That video would have only been half as long if they stopped all the replays.

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Re: (NGC) BMW 507 Restoration
« Reply #6 on: December 10, 2018, 11:18:33 PM »
 Well I'll be , when did BMW start building cars ?

 Dusty

Offline wirespokes

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Re: (NGC) BMW 507 Restoration
« Reply #7 on: December 10, 2018, 11:56:56 PM »
Well I'll be , when did BMW start building cars ?

 Dusty

Good one, Dusty!

Arveno "What’s left of Elvis car ?
I wouldn’t have touched it , just make it roadworthy but they went way too far "

Elvis died in 1977 - almost 42 years ago. Somehow I think the car was in better condition at the time he died. It looks like it saw some really hard times and was beyond the point of a little bodywork, cancer repair and paint touch up. I tend to leave things original, but this car really was in need of restoring.

Tusayan - Cool story! Does he have an M1? I'm curious what they're like.

Perazzimx14 - now that you put it that way... I should have them restore one of my airheads. Did you see how many 507s they have in that shop?

dxhall - interesting point. I wonder if they dip it in a second bath to wash away all traces of acid. The pressure wash probably helped as well. And then after that, it looks like they worked over every square inch of that thing.

Did you see the pit under the car? It's not a pit - looks to be a basement level down there.

Offline fossil

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Re: (NGC) BMW 507 Restoration
« Reply #8 on: December 10, 2018, 11:59:15 PM »
Well I'll be , when did BMW start building cars ?

 Dusty

In 1928. They bought the Dixie automobile factory (don´t confuse it with these blue Dixie cabins...) in Eisenach. The first car was a licence-built Austin 7.
Well, and today a car from this company is without any question easier to look at than a bike.
« Last Edit: December 11, 2018, 12:04:30 AM by fossil »
Greetings from Germany!
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Offline Tusayan

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Re: (NGC) BMW 507 Restoration
« Reply #9 on: December 11, 2018, 08:45:47 AM »

Tusayan - Cool story! Does he have an M1? I'm curious what they're like.

He has two M1s.  They are tiny inside, I can’t get in them.

I was in Eisenach earlier this year.  The town was in the Soviet zone after the Second World War and subsequently in the DDR. Immediately post war they built prewar style BMWs there, badged as EMWs (Eisenach replacing Bavaria in the name). Then Wartburgs named after the local castle, today Opels.

New BMWs on either two or four wheels are not my thing at all, but the old ones are interesting.  The Spandau plant near Berlin where they make the motorcycles today was originally an aircraft engine plant that BMW bought in the 1930s to capitalize on the arms buildup.

« Last Edit: December 11, 2018, 08:54:35 AM by Tusayan »

Online JJ

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Re: (NGC) BMW 507 Restoration
« Reply #10 on: December 11, 2018, 10:30:22 AM »
"Restored" values for vintage BMW 507's are not for the faint of heart.... :shocked: :rolleyes: :shocked: :rolleyes: :wink:
















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« Last Edit: December 11, 2018, 10:35:26 AM by JJ »
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Offline wirespokes

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Re: (NGC) BMW 507 Restoration
« Reply #11 on: December 11, 2018, 10:58:13 AM »
Damn! If Elvis had kept it in decent shape he'd be rich! A restored 507 is worth close to 2 million????

Offline Roebling3

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Re: (NGC) BMW 507 Restoration
« Reply #12 on: December 11, 2018, 11:11:39 AM »
It surely looked to me that they hand built 2 complete bodies, the 2nd for another chassis they had. You saw the 2 bodies side by side b4 mounting one on its chassis?
And what's with the rotted, still red, hole below the door hinge on both sides? Is that for authenticity?  Zero miles on the clock???
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Offline Lannis

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Re: (NGC) BMW 507 Restoration
« Reply #13 on: December 11, 2018, 11:20:15 AM »
Damn! If Elvis had kept it in decent shape he'd be rich! A restored 507 is worth close to 2 million????

You know, that's probably the most extreme "I could have had one of those!" ratio of all.

I mean, I could have bought (in the late 70s or early 80s) a nice XKE Jag or Austin Healey 3000 or Hemi Challenger selling for $10,000 at the time (half of what I grossed in a year then, doable); and now I look and they're $100,000 and more.   I couldn't reasonably buy one now unless I cashed in a retirement fund, and that's just not on.

But there was also a nice BMW 507 in "Hemmings" in 1980 for $15,000.   I seriously thought about it but it was a little too much and I let it go.   I could never, now or future, even think about paying $1.9M for any sort of car.   That's got to be one of the highest inflations of car value ever .....

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