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BMW 507 Introduction: I. To some observers, the creation of the BMW 507 in 1955 must have seemed an act of marketing madness. Here was a company, struggling to stay alive in the car business, suddenly introducing a V-8-powered roadster that was even more expensive than the vaunted Mercedes 300SL "Gullwing." A. The Idea for the 507 came from a former auto racer named Max Hoffman. 1. He was an Austrian Businessman who played a large role in the 1950’s import-car boom in America. 2. Before World War II, Hoffman had been a Rolls-Royce dealer in Europe. 3. He knew BMW build great pre-war sports cars, and approached the automaker with the idea of making a sleek two-seater for the wealthy United States market. B. The Bavarian automaker hired Albrecht Goertz a German-American industrial designer to style two sporty cars. 1. Goertz came up with the BMW 503 four-seat touring car and the spectacular BMW 507. 2. He was also the man who designed the Studebaker, the BMW 503 and later the Datsun 240Z. 3. Later in his career he had hand in designing the Porsche 911, and one o