As Longtime Readers know, I have an inordinate fondness for sports cars of yore, and especially ones of my misbegotten and largely wasted youth. The Alfa Romeo Spider, Austin Healey 3000 and the little MGB GT, to name but three, were all the objects of desire in my younger times, and it’s easy to see why:
However, if I were asked today which sports car of the pre-1975 era I would like to own today, unchanged, it would probably be a car of which I knew nothing at the time, probably because I was only about 3 years old. Yes, I speak of the impossibly-sexy BMW 507 of the late 1950s:
I know, this is the car which nearly bankrupted BMW, but that’s all ancient history. The fact of the matter is that the 507 embodies almost all my list of desirable features: a small 3.0-liter V8, adequate acceleration and top speed, and of course matchless good looks, all in a neatly-sized package of simple yet tasteful design.
It was also more reliable than any of the later sports cars I alluded to above, which satisfies another of my must-have features. I’d even take the soft-top cabrio:
Feel free to take issue with me in Comments.
This was the Sunday post which went AWOL on me. Once again, my apologies.
Well, if it was good enough for Elvis…
The only issue I have with your choice can be encapsulated in three letters — “B.M.W.”
As I have more than once averred: not all BMW drivers are entitled assholes and not all entitled assholes drive BMW’s, but there appears to be considerable congruence between the two sets.
Mark,
As a BMW driver myself, I’ll tell you what I tell most people. Driving a BMW isn’t for everyone. What with all the weaving in and out, cutting people off, giving them the finger, driving a Bimmer can be quite stressful at times.
Heh. Indeed. I usually end up shouting, “The ultimate driving machine doesn’t make you the ultimate driver!” at that type.
But at least you never have to use your turn signal.
The difference between a porcupine and a BMW, with a porcupine the pricks are on the outside.
Kim,
I ordered mine with the “turn signal delete” option to save weight.
Nice touring car for a top down cruse to your club or dinner, but I still prefer my 72 2.4L 911S sunroof coupe. Silver with a red interior. Put 100,000 miles on that car with a fare share being track day miles and the majority of the rest driving mountain roads in Colorado. All the power was above 4,000 rpm so the car needed to be driven with enthusiasm —
…….. sure wish I hadn’t sold it. But I needed a down payment for a house. New wife didn’t agree when I said we could live in the Porsche , but I couldn’t drive the house.
I would absolutely love that BMW. But then I also made the mistake of “meeting my hero” when I test drove a 1970s Mercedes SL-450 (think Bobby Ewing). I could barely fit into the thing. The steering wheel was so big that it pinned my right leg against the center console. I even declined to take it on the highway (as the seller was suggesting) because had I needed to do any emergency braking I clearly wouldn’t be able to react very quickly.
My dream of owning one went *poof* and I’ve moved on to other dreams. So maybe I’ll dream of the BMW 507. It certainly looks much more drivable, though I doubt we’ll ever meet.
They only ended up making a couple hundred of them, so you’re probably correct.
If it were more reliable, I’d “settle” for a Z8.
For a wonderful YouTube Channel from an Iowa guy named Steve Myers try his “This Week with Cars”. He has a huge warehouse of old, mostly-British iron. He did a barn find resurrection of six gen 1 Sprites. He has the big Healeys, sprigets, Bs and As, and a slough of Sunbeam Alpines and Tigers. He gets down and dirty with the cars. He did one series where he went around the floor and started every one of his cars. It took him three ten-minute episodes to do them all.
It’s fun to think about, but as my lovely wife and I realized when we sold the beloved Miata, there comes a time when it’s just too much trouble to drag your aging and somewhat creaky ass into and out of the thing. Letting go is difficult … cars you have to climb into, long range shooting, motorcycles, fixing the roof.
The MGB was quite reliable, I had 6 of them, (not at the same time), 5 used , 1 new, the only one that broke down was the new one, (when a hefty strip of plastic wrapped itself around the cooling fan somehow, 1open bonnet, 1 very, very sharp knife, 1 now unbrokedown MGB).
Kim, the 507 Cabrio would be a wonderful way to round-out the other three.
I have always loved the 507, but I’ve outgrown it, literally. And I’m not sure I could have ever afforded it before I outgrew it. I’m too old (64) and too “husky” (6′, 235 lbs) to sit comfortably in any sports car (the last being a 2012 Porsche Cayman, which I begrudgingly sold in 2015). I split my time now between a 2014 Ford Transit Connect XLT Cargo van and a 2019 Jaguar XJ50 (8K on the clock, so not much of a split). The Jag is the last car I’ll ever buy (at least that’s what I told my wife). I wax nostalgic over the sports cars, but with 5 back surgeries and 4 knee operations, I’ll have to settle for just looking at them.
Kinda like having an affair with some limber young supermodel or beach volleyball player; in your youth, you could handle such a thing easily, but at our age, the discomfort and expense are not worth the pleasure.