Lot Ended
Description
1959 BMW 501 V8
Recently imported from Sweden
and currently in daily use; rare survivor of this top quality car; scope for
cosmetic improvement; find another!
In common with the rest of Germany’s industrial base,
BMW’s Munich factory had been all but obliterated by savage Allied bombing raids
and it wasn’t until 1951 that they were able to unveil their first all new
post-war model. By this time the market was already crowded with small cars, so
BMW elected to launch an expensive, small-volume model instead.
Launched at the Frankfurt Show, the extravagant 501 was
dubbed the ‘Barockengel’ (Baroque Angel) by the German press, a reference to its
high quality, flowing lines and suicide rear doors that looked (a bit) like
angel’s wings. It was initially fitted with an updated version of the pre-war
BMW 326 six-cylinder engine, although unfortunately the voluminous and
well-appointed bodywork weighed rather more than planned, hampering its autobahn
capabilities.
This weight issue had been a concern even before launch,
the management giving the green light to an all-new engine which was to make its
debut in the 502 model of 1954. The new powerplant was a super-smooth all-alloy
V8 of 2,580cc, its single camshaft running in the centre of the V operating
pushrod overhead valves. Now with 100bhp on tap, the new car could touch the
magic ton, restoring BMW to its rightful place as a manufacturer of performance
machinery.
The V8 was also installed in the slightly cheaper and less
luxuriously trimmed 501 (as here), this model also being known as the BMW 2.6.
Costing a hefty 17,500 DM, it would have taken the average German worker around
five years to afford one. The engine was later bored out to 3.2-litres which
gave another 20bhp and by the time production came to an end in 1963, some
12,700 V8 models had been sold, hardly a triumph but just enough to keep BMW
afloat while it developed the mass-market ‘Neue Klass’ models which were to
transform the fortunes of the firm in the later 1960s.
Dating from 1959, this BMW 501 (2.6) was supplied new to
the Swedish market and was to remain there until very recently. Our vendor used
to live in Sweden and had known the car for about 20 years but could never
persuade the owner to sell it to him. He finally managed to buy it in
February this year and brought it back to London. An intrepid fellow, he has
been using it as his daily driver ever since, reporting that it easily holds its
own in the cut-and-thrust of city driving. He was planning to drive it up to the
sale (a journey of around 160 miles), but being a doctor in the hard-pressed
NHS, our opening hours and his shifts sadly ruled this out so it came on a truck
instead, although he has no doubt that it would have accomplished the journey
with ease.
Recently serviced and fitted with a new stainless
steel exhaust system which cost £1,500 and a high-torque starter motor
(which cost £299 from those good chaps at AES of Tenbury Wells), it has been
starting promptly and running beautifully as we have moved it around on site,
with a lovely V8 burble from the twin exhausts. As you can see in the photos,
the interior could do with some attention (door cards, carpets and parcel shelf)
but the seats are undamaged and the whole car appears remarkably solid and
original, the paintwork having been refreshed to a decent standard in the
1990s. Eminently usable as it is, it could be smartened up over time as
desired.
Although there is no real history with the car, it did
sail through its last Swedish MOT in May 2019 (a famously strict test that makes
ours look like a piece of cake) and it does come with two original handbooks
(one for the 501 and one for the 502, both in Swedish) plus a copy of an
original factory workshop manual in German. The V5C records it as a Historic
Vehicle so it won’t cost you anything to tax it and it won’t need an MOT either.
It even comes with a spare set of brand new tyres in the boot and is only
reluctantly for sale due to a recent property purchase and attendant financial
issues...
An extremely rare and interesting car from a critical time
in the history of BMW, this high-quality machine is sure to prove a real talking
point wherever it goes.
For more information contact James on 07970 309907 or
email [email protected]
* All charges are subject to VAT