Fitted with the 3.2-litre V8 engine, the ultimate evolution of the 502's engine
1955 BMW 501 A Coupé

- Delivered new in Austria
- Current ownership for 45 years
- Extraordinarily rare 501 coupé, one of a handful known to exist
- 'Baroque Angel' coachwork by Karosserie Baur
- 3.2-litres V8 engine ultimate evolution
- German registration document

Please kindly note that this car will be available for viewing by prior appointment in DORTMUND(GERMANY): please contact [email protected] for booking.

As Germany emerged from the rubble of its second World War defeat, a defiant BMW was striving to reestablish itself as a respected automaker. First overcoming a Soviet-supported rival using its trademark to sell cars made in the East, BMW even made cookware while it planned a return to auto manufacturing. Producing pre-war designs under license was mooted, and BMW even built a prototype of a Fiat 500-esque economy car, but Sales Director Hans Grewnig determined that a high-margin luxury car would make best use of the small production capacity available.
In 1951, the BMW 501 was introduced with a straight-six engine, available as a saloon, coupé, and convertible. It set the template for BMW's future sporting cars, but its heavier-than-anticipated weight and the low power of its pre-war-based six-cylinder engine resulted in sluggish performance.
The BMW 502 of 1954 addressed these shortcomings, with an advanced all-aluminium 2,580cc V8 engine that offered more power and performance. However, it was the later 3.2-litre V8 engine that truly represented the ultimate evolution of the 502, offering even greater refinement and power, which helped the model compete directly with rivals like Mercedes. Chrome trim and a more luxurious interior further differentiated the 502, making it faster and more opulent than its predecessor.
Karosserie Baur was renowned for its exclusive coachbuilding work with BMW in the 1950s, transforming standard models like the BMW 501 and 502 into bespoke coupés and convertibles. Known for exceptional craftsmanship, Baur's limited production, with only a few dozen units made due to the high cost and artisan nature of the work, catered to a high-end clientele seeking more luxurious and sporty variants of BMW's luxury saloons.

The BMW 501 A we present is accompanied by its original Typenschein (certificate of conformity, registration, and document providing details of its successive owners). This document reveals that chassis 49007 was delivered new to its first owner in Austria on May 11, 1955, by Wolfgang Denzel AG in Vienna, fitted with a 2.0-litre six-cylinder engine. It is now fitted with the 3.2-litre V8 engine, the ultimate evolution of the 502's engine, the most powerful version, delivering 120 horsepower.

According to its documents, the car had three owners in Austria before being imported to Germany in 1971 and registered in 1973, as indicated by its original Fahrzeugbrief (German registration document), before being sold to its current owner for the sum of 17,500 DM in 1979. It is therefore believed to have had five owners from new.

While it has been carefully maintained over the years in the owner's own professional garage, it has more recently been kept on static display. As such, recommissioning will be required before this "Baroque Angel" returns to the road.