Music · Former owner

Elvis Presley

1957 BMW 507

Elvis Presley’s restored white BMW 507 on display at Goodwood Revival, with an Elvis exhibit behind it.
Elvis Presley’s actual 1957 BMW 507, chassis 70079, restored in Feather White by BMW Group Classic, at Goodwood Revival in 2018.Photo: David Merrett (Dave Hamster) · CC BY 2.0. Resized and converted to WebP; full original frame shown.
Elvis Presley portrait, 1970
Elvis Presley1970 · Identification portraitOllie Atkins, White House photographer · Public domain — U.S. federal government. The Commons source is already cropped and retouched. Joyride serves that Commons file byte-for-byte. No additional image edits or generation. A responsive UI may crop the displayed edges.

A roadster with a paper trail

Connection
Former owner
When
1958–1960
Identity
Chassis 70079

Elvis Presley bought this BMW while serving in the U.S. Army in Germany. It was already a used car: BMW dates its completion to September 13, 1957, before its appearances at motor shows and hillclimbs. Presley took delivery on December 20, 1958.

BMW’s archivists confirmed the connection using an insurance proposal naming Elvis Aaron Presley and chassis 70079. He traded the roadster in after returning to the United States in 1960. BMW Group Classic later restored it to its white 1958 appearance and presented it in 2016.

Follow the evidence

Sources for this story

BMW’s restoration account links a named historical owner to an individual chassis. This is a former-ownership story.

  • Elvis’ BMW 507 lives onBMW Group Classic · 2016-08-04 · external source

    Build and delivery dates, chassis identification, Presley’s purchase and trade-in, restoration.

Reviewed

How we identified the photographed car
  • Photo identity evidence

    BMW identifies the restored Elvis-owned car as chassis 70079, built in 1957, returned to Feather White in 2016. Its archives found Elvis’s 1958 insurance proposal naming that chassis.

  • Photo identity evidence

    BMW states that the actual restored BMW 507 driven by Elvis in Germany was presented in the Kevill-Davies & March themed exhibition at Goodwood Revival 7–9 September 2018.

  • Photo identity evidence

    The photographer identifies the car as Elvis-owned at Goodwood Revival 2018; capture date is 7 September 2018. The image visibly shows the white car within the Elvis display.

The matching photographer, venue, date and vehicle history establish the identification; the chassis stamp is not visible in these photographs.