This ex-John Surtees BMW is being sold for £2m

One very treasured gift

It’s not often that an Italian count offers to buy a stunning BMW for you. Then again, it’s not often that you win seven motorcycle World Championships for the same manufacturer.

That’s exactly what the late, great John Surtees did for MV Agusta motorcycles in the late-’50s, claiming four 500cc and a trio of 350cc titles in the space of just four years.

His reward? After a little negotiation in his limited Italian, Surtees was gifted this magnificent BMW 507 by Count Domenico Agusta – and he kept it for the rest of his life.

Now the Surtees family is offering it for sale at the Bonhams Festival of Speed auction on 13 July, with a conservative estimate of £2.2m. Click on for the remarkable story.

All-time great

John Surtees is doubtless one of the greatest racers to have ever lived. Four times the 500cc motorcycle World Champion and three times the 350cc World Champion, in 1964 he added a Formula One title to that list – taking the win with none other than Ferrari.

From two to four

To this day, Surtees remains the only person to have ever been World Champion on both two and four wheels – and the accomplished British driver would go on to contest Le Mans and Can-Am in the ‘60s for good measure.

MVP for MV

It’s perhaps his motorcycling career that’s most remarkable, though. Initially racing for Norton in the ‘55 season, Surtees switched to the Italian MV Agusta factory team in ‘56 – and promptly won the 500cc World Championship.

Winning streak

Not content with a single win, he’d go on to claim three consecutive 500cc titles for the team between 1958 and 1960, at the same time taking an identical hat-trick of victories in the 350cc Championships – taking his total for MV Agusta to an incredible seven.

Big numbers

During that period, he won an unrivalled 32 out of 39 races – including a run of 23 in succession – and rode his MV Agusta to victory in three consecutive Isle of Man TTs, becoming the first man ever to do so in the Senior category.

Points mean prizes

Little wonder, then, that his team were pleased with his work. After Surtees became 350cc Champion in 1956, Count Agusta – the top man at MV and son of founder Count Giovanni Agusta – told him to think about what prize he’d like.

Hands-on in Germany

While musing on what he might want, Surtees got the opportunity to drive a BMW 507 at Hockenheim. Built between 1956 and 1959, BMW’s stunning roadster was a commercial flop thanks to spiralling production costs – but it was a rare treat on the road.

Pretty and powerful

Powered by a 3.2-litre V8 good for 122mph, the most arresting aspect of the late-’50s 507 was its styling: penned by Albrecht von Goertz, its trim curves, long nose and chrome touches – including those ubiquitous side grilles – remain iconic and influential today.

Style icon

In fact, hints of the 507 can be found on several recent BMW models – including the Z3, Z4 and Z8 – while the original hand-built, drop-top machine remains a thing of beauty. Surtees obviously thought so, too, because he decided on a 507 as his reward from the Count.

Top of the wish list

Attending a race event at Hockenheim in 1957, he took one of the rare machines out for a run through the woods – and that was enough to convince him that he wanted one. As Surtees later recounted, “I went to Count Agusta and said I knew what I would like. It was a 507 BMW.”

Half and half

So Surtees knew what he wanted from MV Agusta – but it didn’t come without a bit of negotiation: “[Agusta’s] first words were how much? To which I replied £3,200. Both of us [were] managing to converse in the Italian I was developing. There was a hesitation so I went in and said 50%, and we had an agreement.”

Winning letter

Whether or not they agreed to go halves, a letter from the team seems to suggest that the 507 was in fact a gift to the racer: “This letter is to confirm that on the 12th January, 1957, we presented to you an amount of DM 27,115.00 for you to buy a BMW type 507 Touring Sports car which was intended as a gift to you in appreciation of your winning the Motorcycle World Championship in 1956 for our company in the 500cc class.”

Hobson’s choice

So, Surtees had his gift – but it wasn’t exactly as he’d hoped. As a mere 252 of the lovely BMW roadster were built (due to those prohibitive production costs), models were pretty thin on the ground – and the Brit had to take what he was given, namely this silver-blue example.

Slow going, slower stopping

Having driven it back from Italy, he got in touch with friend and BMW development man Alex von Falkenhausen. In his own words, Surtees reported that the car “goes up the mountains too slow and down the mountains too fast.”

Performance enhancements

On Falkenhausen’s recommendation, horsepower was increased with a raised compression ratio, and the 507 was taken to Dunlop in England for disc brakes to be fitted on every wheel – making it quite possibly the only example to have such a specification, with a rumoured 165bhp at its disposal.

Beloved Beemer

Now finished to his liking, Surtees proceeded to use his “lovely, subtle, silver-blue” 507 comprehensively. According to the man himself, he once topped 140mph in the BMW going downhill on an Italian autostrada – and he also drove it to most Grands Prix in the period.

No Germans in this stable

That was, until he joined the Ferrari Formula 1 team in 1962. After making their agreement, Enzo Ferrari supposedly came out of his office and said to Surtees, “German car, not possible.” In fact, it was nearly a deal-breaker.

He was eventually given a Ferrari 330 GT to drive, and that spelt the end of the BMW’s glory days as Surtees’ daily driver. Amusingly, he later recounted how when he got his first pay check from Ferrari, the cost of the 330 had been deducted from his wages.

Rent-a-classic

Forbidden from driving his German roadster by Mr Ferrari, Surtees agreed to rent the 507 to a family friend for a while. Surtees was of course careful to check how well the man would treat his BMW – the fellow having borrowed his motorcycle in the past – but seemed satisfied enough to offer him the use of it for a few years.

Loved and lived with

Only once he’d moved house and had more space at home did Surtees take back the BMW – and ‘22 GKN’ was kept in his possession from that point on. Preserved and well-maintained, it was never restored, making it an original example that’s rare and valuable in its own right.

Healthy price tag

In fact, an unrestored, beautiful BMW 507 with one owner from new would, according to Hagerty, usually set you back upwards of £1.4m. That it’s such a storied motor only adds to its value, bringing its lower auction estimate up to £2.2m.

Used to amuse

Owned, improved and enjoyed by Surtees himself from new until the day he passed away last year at 83, it’s as unique a 507 as you’ll ever find. From frequently piloting it over the Brenner and Simplon passes to taking it to Grands Prix at the turn of the ‘60s, the eight-time World Champion clearly loved his V8-powered German tourer.

One of a kind

Being offered at auction by the Surtees family for the first time on 13 July at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, with enough fans in the house there’s a good chance it could claim its £2.5m upper estimate at the Bonhams sale – and, for a car with such provenance, that’s probably a fair price.