00:02Mysterious, alluring, the most valuable 507 in the world.
00:15The car is an icon for the BMW history.
00:19Mysterious, alluring and valuable.
00:22Its appearance is breathtaking.
00:24It may be hard to believe, but this beauty spent decades rusting in a California pumpkin shed.
00:33Now, thanks to its previous owner, it's the most valuable BMW in the world.
00:40And just whose car was this?
00:45That's right, the king himself, Elvis Presley.
00:50Elvis bought this 1957 BMW 507 from a racing driver while on military service in Germany.
00:59When Elvis left the army in 1960, he sold the car to a drag racer in the United States and
01:06it returned to the track.
01:10In 1968, the now battered BMW found itself in the care of car fanatic Jack Castor, who had no knowledge
01:19of the vehicle's famous previous owner.
01:22Jack doesn't care about Elvis whatsoever.
01:25I got the feeling that he wasn't a fan of Elvis in the slightest.
01:32Jack takes it off the road with the intention of restoring it.
01:36He accumulates a BMW V8 engine for it.
01:38He accumulates the proper ZF transmission for it.
01:42All kinds of little details.
01:44But Jack never got round to restoring the car.
01:50He put 70079 in storage in a pumpkin warehouse in Pescadero.
01:57And it sat there for 30 years.
02:00The story of Elvis' missing 507 became somewhat of a legend.
02:05And automotive journalist Jackie was determined to find it.
02:09An ordinary 507 is really a 1.2 to 1.5 million dollar car.
02:16But with the Elvis association, it suddenly becomes the most valuable 507 in the world.
02:22Jackie got her break when a friend of Jack's read about the quest to find the missing car.
02:30Jack sends me an email.
02:32And then we go down to the pumpkin warehouse where he has the car store.
02:36It was a moving experience.
02:39It was the thing that I had been looking for at this point for four years.
02:43But this 507 had seen better days.
02:46We take the tarp off.
02:48And the car is in intact but rough shape.
02:53You can see that the car had been white.
02:56Over painted with black.
02:57And then red again.
03:00And why repaint it red?
03:02Elvis had the car repainted in red.
03:04Girls, of course, were crazy about him.
03:07And they would leave lipstick messages and lipstick kisses all over his white car.
03:14Which, of course, drove him crazy trying to keep it clean.
03:17Then, the news Jackie had been waiting for.
03:20BMW confirmed that it had been Elvis' 507.
03:27With the previous owner confirmed, Jack was offered a staggering $9 million for the car.
03:33But instead of taking the money, he decided to return to Senda.
03:41The state of the car when it came to the restoration was pretty bad in nearly all aspects.
03:48The framework was rusty.
03:49The body itself was rusty itself.
03:52In fact, the engine bay was empty when we got the car.
03:55Before there was a Chevrolet engine installed.
03:58On the back of the car we had a big dent and the trunk wasn't even able to be closed.
04:05The interior of the car, and especially the dashboard, have been considered as very beautiful all the decades long.
04:14There was an energy that was present when that car rolled out for the first time.
04:19And no one had seen that car effectively since 1960-something.
04:23Sadly, Jack passed away before restoration was completed.
04:28But he left the BMW to the museum.
04:31So now, car fans and Elvis fans alike can pay homage to the king of 507s.
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