1957 BMW 507 Roadster
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The BMW 507 is arguably the most beautiful and certainly among the rarest
production models ever to emerge from Munich, with only 253 produced
between 1956 and 1959. Initially intended to be exported to the United
States at a rate of thousands per year, it ended up being too expensive,
resulting in heavy losses for BMW. The 507 was the first BMW built with a V8 engine
and remained the only model to use one until the 740i debuted in 1992. The
3.2-liter pushrod V8 under the 507's hood was rated at either 150 or 160
horsepower. |
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Unfortunately, as attractive as the 507 was, its $10,000 price tag made it
a bigger commercial failure than the more recent Z8. Following the 507's
demise, BMW didn't build another roadster until the 1989 Z1. |
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The BMW 507 was conceived by US automobile importer Max Hoffman who, in
1954, persuaded the BMW management to produce a roadster version of the
BMW 501 and BMW 502 saloons to fill the gap between the expensive
Mercedes-Benz 300SL and the cheap and underpowered Triumph and MG sports
cars. |
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The 507 made its debut at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York in the
summer of 1955.Production began in November 1956. Max Hoffman intended the
507 to sell for about $5,000 U.S., which he believed would allow a
production run of 5,000 units a year. Instead, high production costs
pushed the price initially to US$9,000 and ultimately US$10,500. |
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Intended to revive BMW's sporting image, the 507 instead took BMW to the
edge of bankruptcy -- the company's losses for 1959 were around
US$8,000,000. The company lost money on each 507 built, and production was
terminated in late 1959. |
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