Photo: Abimelec Arellano on Instagram
Of all the roadsters that BMW made, the Z8 definitely stands out. But that fellow isn’t an original design. To the point, it’s heavily influenced by the 507 series.
Only 252 examples of the breed were built in Bavaria from 1956 to 1960, and well-cared models fetch a pretty penny at auction. The legend of the 507 is also hyped up by the famous people who owned the German roadster, A-listers that include the likes of Elvis Presley, King Constantine II of Greece, as well as Fred Astaire.
U.S. importer Max Hoffman is the man responsible for giving BMW the idea for the 507, but as it often happens with this outlandish designs, the project was a commercial failure. Nonetheless, what BMW saw as a failure has slowly but steadily turned into a blue-chip collectible with V8 power and a manual box.
Given its rarity and the connection it has to the Z8 mentioned in the opening paragraph, automotive concepts designer Abimelec Arellano decided to give the oldtimer a contemporary twist. “I wanted to keep the low, dynamic flow of the shapes, so the body is stock with a slight flare in the rear arches,” he explains.
A raked windshield, a Shelby Cobra-inspired trunk and plate holder, custom steelies with knock-off hubs, and semi-slick tires are a few other visual modifications. The icing on the cake, however, comes in the form of the free-breathing S62 engine.
Based on the M62, the M Division’s version of the V8 was used in the Z8, E39 generation of the M5, as well as two Ascari supercars – the KZ1 and later A10. Closer to 400 horsepower and 369 pound-feet (500 Nm) of torque are more-than-adequate figures for a car as light as the 507, let alone for those rubber shoes.
“What do you think? This or a new Z4?” To answer Abimelec's question, definitely this rendering if I had the choice. Don’t, however, get your hopes up for a real-world project along these lines because nobody in their right mind would restomod the 507 for obvious reasons.
U.S. importer Max Hoffman is the man responsible for giving BMW the idea for the 507, but as it often happens with this outlandish designs, the project was a commercial failure. Nonetheless, what BMW saw as a failure has slowly but steadily turned into a blue-chip collectible with V8 power and a manual box.
Given its rarity and the connection it has to the Z8 mentioned in the opening paragraph, automotive concepts designer Abimelec Arellano decided to give the oldtimer a contemporary twist. “I wanted to keep the low, dynamic flow of the shapes, so the body is stock with a slight flare in the rear arches,” he explains.
A raked windshield, a Shelby Cobra-inspired trunk and plate holder, custom steelies with knock-off hubs, and semi-slick tires are a few other visual modifications. The icing on the cake, however, comes in the form of the free-breathing S62 engine.
Based on the M62, the M Division’s version of the V8 was used in the Z8, E39 generation of the M5, as well as two Ascari supercars – the KZ1 and later A10. Closer to 400 horsepower and 369 pound-feet (500 Nm) of torque are more-than-adequate figures for a car as light as the 507, let alone for those rubber shoes.
“What do you think? This or a new Z4?” To answer Abimelec's question, definitely this rendering if I had the choice. Don’t, however, get your hopes up for a real-world project along these lines because nobody in their right mind would restomod the 507 for obvious reasons.
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