This is the 1954 BMW Ernst Loof 502 Roadster prototype (‘Typ 528’ or ‘502 Sportwagen’), s/n 70.001, a coach-built roadster built on a BMW 502 chassis. The early origins of the BMW 507 model began with some initial design proposals from an automotive engineer and racing driver named Ernst Loof. The 507 came about similarly to the story behind the Mercedes-Benz 300SL. Mercedes-Benz’s very own United States importer, Max Hoffman suggested that idea at a directors meeting in Stuttgart in 1953. Hoffman also pitched a similar idea to BMW at the time, and convinced BMW management at the time to begin development of a roadster variation of the BMW 501 and BMW 502 saloons, and straight away, automotive engineer Fritz Fiedler was brought in to design the rolling chassis. The next major contributor to join the project was Ernst Loof. Loof, serving as head of BMW’s Nürburgring testing office of research as well as their development department, called upon the assistance of Heinz Jacht, a technician whom he had experience working with in the past in order to develop an in-house aerodynamic body. The car was then constructed by a coachbuilding company known as Baur in Stuggart, Germany. The finished result was presented to the board of directors at BMW and was also put on display during a concours event in the year 1954 in Bad Neuenahr, Germany where it won a gold medal. Despite all of this, the project shifted in a different direction all-together. The 507 model was instead to be designed by German industrial designer, Albrecht von Goertz. Goertz’s sketches were submitted in October of 1954 and the board signed off on the design by March of 1955. This design was officially presented for the first time at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York in the summer of 1955, and went on to become the star of the show at the 1955 IAA Show. The production BMW 507 went on to be produced by BMW from the 1956 until 1959 with just about 253 total examples produced over two different series.
How many made? 1
Engine: 3168cc V8
Debut: a concours event in Germany 1954
Top Speed: n/a
0-60mph: n/a
Photo Credit: @dacorsa_com
Research: @rarecarsonly