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Films:
This BMW 507 Has Been Reborn In The Memory Of Elvis Presley
Here is a 41 minute You Tube video of the restoration.Enjoy.
The restoration documentary is really amazing. That they have a hot tank big enough to dip the entire chassis is quite extraordinary. I wonder how many such facilities exist in the world, where an entire chassis can be dipped. I worked in and around restoration shops as a young man, and have taken an interest this work my entire life, and I have never seen anything equivalent here in the US.
Talk about a European Corvette. 507 made from 1956-1959. You can see where Zora Duntov and others influence really came with the Corvette. The european mindset that became really golden in the C2 63-68 cars, but then fell victim to GM/Americana ideology in the C3. Dave Hill returned Corvette to that European mindset with the C5 by going to Nurburgring and focusing on chassis and racing. Corvette could have the iconic status of Porsche, had the GM execs not been so narrow minded. This is a beautiful BMW though…for sure. You can sit this with a Cobra, a 427 C2 convertible Corvette and a Sunbeam Tiger and just be like…well then.
Ahem … methinks you got yer influences mixed up . The C1 began production in 1953 some three years before the 507 ever saw the light of day .. so if anything it was BMW that was influenced by the Corvette .. not the other way around . Also by far the two most Euro influenced Vettes were the C2 and the C6 . The C5 despite all GM’s marketing hype and Ring Bling claims is a pile of fertilizer wallowing in a pig pen when it came to its handling … and was an oversized land yacht to boot ! As for GM’s narrow-mindedness .. not quite … more like GM’s ongoing clueless Head in the Sand and to hell with what the customer wants mentality is more like it
As for this 507 ? Love the 507 . Couldn’t care less though that Elvis ever owned it . Suffice it to say … Elvis aint no favorite of mine … previous ownership is meaningless to me .. and the fact is despite owning one Elvis never identified with this or any other BMW etc . The Memphis blob was a Caddy man … thru and thru .. as well as Harley guy to his end of days … so really .. who cares about the odd Euro car that might of found its way into his garage at some point or another ? Oh yeah … blinded by Celebrity and Cult of Personality auction goers and the media … sigh …………..
This is one of your better videos, Petrolicious. All are superior, but this one is special in its understated presentation of the work involved.
There are not that many pumpkin farms with barns in Half Moon Bay, and on week end drives, when I was working at Stanford University in nearby Palo Alto, during the 1980s, I must have passed by all of them. They harbored special things. Artist studios. Ramshackle gardens. Stables, a childrens camp, and yoga retreats. And one of them held this car.
Sigh .. back in the Day when Half Moon Bay was still an enclave for artists , hippies .. real farmers [ not the ‘ gentleman’ variety and the horsey set ] musicians escaping the rapidly growing insanity of LA and SF .. and yeah .. the odd ball collector / eccentric / iconoclast as well .. before it was overrun by wretched excess gentrification pushing all the creative folks out … sigh … yup … those were the days my friend … and we really did think they’d never end .. little did we know … sniff
I typically love your videos and think they are probably the most well-done amongst the many on the Internet (production values are off the charts); but on this one, the music drowns out the speaker at the beginning (through the first 2:30 or so) and at the end again. Part of it is his accent; but without the music, he’s easily understandable.
Again, great video, just maybe tone down the music a tad. Thanks.
Yeah the music sucks
[ seriously Petrolicious .. where did you dredge up that lame garbage from ? Yanni’s favorites perhaps ? ]
But the problem isn’t with the volume of the music .. the problem is Herr Kutscsher’s voice is somewhat muted in nature .. his pronunciation is a bit lacking and stifled .. his accent just a little too rich [ for voice laid over a bed of music ] .. and I’m guessing he was very improperly miked [ wrong mike choice etc ] as well . Suffice it to say better miking [ and engineering ] as well as more appropriate music that wasn’t smack dab in the range of [ and interfering with ] Herr Kutcher’s voice would of improved things vastly .
Beautiful automobile. The provenance of the 507 and the journey it has been on is very intriguing to say the least. Being a discarded jewel of ” The King” then to be resurrected as the crown he wore while in the service certainly deserves more than six minutes of film. Great story. Petrolicious has to be one of the best representations of the emotion a car can provoke in a person. Regardless of your station in life you are represented here, if you have the love for the automobile there is something here to inspire you. Tuesday morning 9AM is when the dreamers get to see that these dreams do come true.
