BMW 507 Roadster poised for record prices in auction

There may be modern-day Paganis and Bugattis selling for millions, bristling with cutting-edge technology and performance, but there is still a market for moneyed connoisseurs ready to fork out more than that amount for a piece of automotive history. More often than not, these vehicles are treated as art pieces, to be stored in temperature-controlled art galleries and living rooms rather than being driven on the road as they were meant to be when they were conceived. One such example is this, the BMW 507 Roadster.

Built in 1959, this BMW 507 Roadster is a staggeringly beautiful machine even today, and it is easy to see where that incredulous price tag is coming from. Powered by a 145PS, 3,168-cc aluminum alloy V8 engine, the 507 Roadster was a direct rival to the Mercedes-Benz 190SL and 300SL, two other breathtakingly beautiful machines which also had similarly small dimensions. 

Unfortunately, the BMW 507 was too expensive to make and too expensive to buy, so it didn’t last very long and almost bankrupted BMW. It also didn’t sell very well and only a handful of very wealthy people bought them. Elvis Presley famously owned one that’s currently being restored by BMW.

The one up for auction here though, belongs to one Shane O’Neil of RKO General, Inc, the grandson of the founder of RKO Pictures studio, and it was restored once in the late 1980s. The auction listing says the car has the original colours, but not the original engine.

Not that it matters, with speculations already flying high about which lucky owner will get their hands on it. Conservative estimates put it at anywhere from $2.3 to $2.6 million which, if it goes through, will make it one of the most expensive cars the revered auction house has sold.