One of the more unusual offerings to go under the hammer at Broadarrow’s recent Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este auction was this BMW 507 wooden body buck.
Offered without reserve, this coveted automotive artifact sold for $96,300 of our Australian dollars.
Full-scale, handcrafted wooden framing structures, body bucks are used by coachbuilders to shape and check the exterior metal panels of a vehicle.
Since only 252 units of the iconic BMW 507 were ever built, with each of them formed entirely by hand using hammers, surviving factory body bucks are incredibly rare and highly prized by classic-car restorers and collectors, hence the stratospheric sale price.
Designed by Albrecht von Goertz and built between 1956 and 1959, the 507 was aimed at wealthy North American buyers. It was engineered as a premium GT convertible but was infamous for its massive cost blowouts leading to enormous financial losses for BMW that nearly broke the company.
The BMW 507 attracted its fair share of celebrity owners including Elvis Presley, Ursula Andress (the original Bond girl from Dr No) who was gifted a 507 by Presley, John Surtees the World Motorcycle and Formula One champion, who was gifted his by Count Augusta, actor and dancer Fred Astaire, who bought his own, along with King Constantine II of Greece and Prince Rainier of Monaco.
Powered by a 3.2-litre aluminium V8 engine putting out 150 horsepower and paired with a four-speed manual gearbox, each one of the 252 luxury two-door roadsters were built using hand-formed aluminium, making each car slightly unique.
These days the BMW 507 is highly sought after and considered one of the most beautiful and valuable cars in automotive history.
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