• One of only 34 rare Series I cars built of 254 produced in all including the Series 2 • An automotive design icon • Desirable Rudge wheels option and retaining its original interior • Third in Class 2013 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elégance During the 1950s, car designers on both sides of the Atlantic produced some of the all-time greats of automotive styling, none of them more classically beautiful than the sublime BMW 507.

Indeed, a measure of the 507's iconic significance may be discerned from BMW's 're-introduction' of the model, after a gap of 40 years, in the form of the Z8 roadster.

In an age when it has become de rigeur for heritage-conscious motor manufacturers to incorporate styling cues from landmark models into their latest offerings, few have ventured as far as BMW in paying homage to a recognised classic.

Transatlantic in inspiration - aimed at the United States market, styled by a New York-domiciled German ex-patriot and built in Germany - the 507 reflected North Americ...