Ten years ago, my friend Bill was looking through one of my classics books deciding on the special car he would buy when the time was right.
What grabbed his eye, for better or worse, was the BMW 507, produced in very limited numbers (250-plus) in the late 1950s. He wanted a car that looked like that, but one that was a driver–something he could use whenever and not worry too much about getting stranded somewhere in a vehicle for which parts and service knowledge were at a bare minimum.
The solution was to build a tribute car and power it with modern running gear. A few shots of the car have appeared here.
Last week I got up to the shop doing the work, Vescio’s in Rogers, for a quick look and more photos. Figured I’d post them and another piece, since lots of readers and enthusiasts are building and restoring cars.
The charge was a car that looked like the BMW. It would be possible to commission an exact replica, but that would obviously be a much more elaborate and expensive mission. With an inch-for-inch duplication, you’d have to change every dimension and contour a little or a lot on a donor car, or build large portions of it from scratch.
These photos show both sides of the challenge–how some changes are fairly easy and do a great deal to evoke the 507, and also how other changes present a bigger challenge and would require comprehensive modifications to basic things like how the doors open, how the top functions, etc.
This project began as a motorless 1958 MGA (replacing wood flooring with steel being an obvious early move). The main differences between that and BMW’s little drop-top appear in the nose and tail. The MGA nose lays back, while the 507’s leans forward at the prow.
The headlights, grille area, bumper and turn signals here are pretty close. The edges are a little sharp, yet. What appears here is an all-metal initial rough in. There will be further metal massaging and everything will be smoothed with a skim coat of filler.
To my eye, the profile looks good. It’s sleek, elegant, sexy. Front and rear sit in harmony and the lines hold up. It’s a bit different from a BMW, however. The main difference is that the center of the MGA, longitudinally, is higher. It crests more, whereas the 507 is flatter across the middle.
The effect is to make the BMW look wider and lower. It may in fact be a little wider but the flatness accentuates the difference.
The back of the Bimmer is a bit boxy. Fabricator Mike Jensen approximated the 507’s top quarter-panel line, yet to make the profile identical, without raising the trunk, would create a fin on the reproduction because the more crested center MGA section would be further from the top of the quarter panel. It would be possible to raise the trunk and flatten it some to be more like the BMW but then the more crested front end would not blend as well. It would feel more like the front of one car grafted to the back of another. What Jensen and Vescio’s are doing is a compromised approach, which suits the slightly curvier tribute car. When you undertake your own creation, it should stylistically consistent to itself.
Retaining the MGA’s cockpit allows use of the factory hood frame, top and side windows. Going for exact reproductions of the doors, etc., would necessitate a custom top.
We talked about a good front bumper and reader Gary suggested a Mustang. He wins. I never talked with Vescio’s about it, but they homed in on the same car. What appears here is a Boss 302 bumper with about a foot sectioned out of it.
For power, it’s getting a Chevy V6 and auto-box. The swage line does not appear across the doors yet because Mike is working with the steel portions first, and will then switch over to the aluminum panels–doors, hood, trunk.
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