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"He saw me looking at it, and said to try it,’’ Surtees recalled. "I came back thinking 'that’s rather nice'.’’ Back
in Italy, when Count Agusta told John Surtees that he would like to buy him a present to reward his World
Championship success, John would tell how ‘the light bulb came on'.
"I thought ‘Ooh, I really would like one of those new BMWs’," said Surtees. "So I mentioned the 507.
Inevitably, the old Count’s response was ‘What’s the price?’ and when I told him it was more than £3,000, he
winced. "We finally did a deal and went fifty-fifty. I went back to von Falkenhausen, did a little development
work for BMW and got the car in what the factory described as silver-grey, but which is more a lovely subtle
silver-blue.’’
John Surtees went on to win three more 500cc World Championship titles with MV Agusta (1958-1960)
adding to the original 1956 crown and three consecutive 350cc World titles, 1958 to 1960. He then famously
made the transition from two wheels to four, driving in Formula 1 from 1960 to 1972 and winning the Formula 1
Drivers’ World Championship wth Ferrari in 1964. Meanwhile he kept the much-loved BMW 507 until he died
on 10 March 2017.
He used this graceful grand touring car extensively, often driving over the Brenner and Simplon passes on his
way between England and Italy. Early on in his ownership he contacted BMW to comment that his car didn’t
feel quite as good as the one he had first tried, finding that it wasn't going up the hills as quickly as he would
like yet was going down the other side far too fast. BMW "breathed upon” his car’s V8 engine, enhancing its
power and torque, and invited him to carry out brake testing in Birmingham with Dunlop, who duly fitted his
car with four-wheel disc brakes. It was a great improvement.
When he signed for Ferrari in late 1962 Surtees arrived at the Maranello factory in his beloved BMW,
whereupon Enzo Ferrari declared that drivers could not possibly have a German car while racing for his team.
He must have a Ferrari instead! Surtees' glee was short-lived: "When I got my first pay cheque I found The Old
Man had had the price of the new car deducted from my fee!”
This is not only a beautiful example of BMW’s most elegant and refined sports car from the 1950s. It is very
much ‘the John Surtees BMW 507’, a one-owner beauty being offered for the first time at public auction, direct
from the estate of one of the world’s most revered and successful sportsmen — an eight-time World
Champion, no less.
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