Antique & Classic Cars Blog

OK, it’s in place. My friend Bill is going to build what there are too few to buy without spending a very, very large sum–a beautiful German sports car manufactured for only a few years during that styling breakthrough-period in the late 1950s.

The car is the BMW 507. While its performance would be tame by today’s standards, the car’s looks have few peers. Problem is only about 250 were made. Most of these still exist, but are locked away in collections. I saw one for sale for $235,000, already sold. Bill says his research turned up average prices in the $400,000 range.

Spending that kinda money was not in the cards. But this is the 21st Century. Anybody who watched Monster Garage knows that fabricators can build just about anything. Jesse James built a flying Panoz Esperante sports car!

So why not build a 507? There are talkers and doers. My friend is a doer’s doer. Truth be told, he didn’t want a half-century old 507. That would be neat, of course, but he wants a car that looks like that yet can be driven any day, anywhere.

Hot rod time! Using 507 and hot rod in the same sentence may seem strange but that’s exactly the concept, for what is a hot rod but an old car fixed up with newer parts to perform better?

Bill got hold of Vescio’s Customization and Fabrication and the game was afoot. You need a starting point and Bo Vescio keyed in on the MGA. His shop restored a rough one for a customer so he and his crew know the car well.

The game plan is to keep much of the MGA’s middle section–doors, passenger compartment, cowl, windshield, as well as the rear portion of the fenders and the forward portion of the quarter panels. Fore and aft of the wheel wells, the sheet metal will have to be changed. Likewise, the hood (or bonnet, since it’s an MGA piece) will change and of course the nose and tail. The front shut line is similar but the MGA bonnet says narrow, while the 507 one fans wide to give access to the wider V8 configuration engine.

Most of the bodywork will be metal. The Vescio’s crew can fabricate the required pieces. (I saw a pre-war fender Ryan Ladda made from flat sheet with an English wheel and other tricks and it was amazing. Dead on for contour before a lick of filler was on it.)

As with home renovation, there will be innumerable choices to be made along the way; the plan’s nuances will likely shift many times. For example, what under hood? Initial prospects are Chevy V6 or V8 or 5-liter Ford.

A starting-candidate MGA is fitted with wire wheels. This style may stay but who knows…. Regardless of particulars it should be a fun project. I’ll keep everyone posted, ’cause I like it.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 26th, 2008 at 11:01 am and is filed under Car parts, Car stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.