• Part of The Connoisseur Collection
• Restored from a bare shell in between 2005 and 2006; repainted in its correct Ivory
• A rare example of BMW’s extravagant “Baroque Angel” Cabriolet
• One of only 37 Cabriolet and Coupé variants produced by Baur between 1955 and 1958
• Retains its matching-numbers 2,077 cc straight-six engine and beautifully patinated interior

One of the most striking designs in BMW’s history, the 501 “Baroque Angel” made its debut in 1951. Penned by Peter Schimanowski, the car was powered by a 1,971 cc overhead-valve straight-six via a mid-mounted four-speed transmission. The suspension employed torsion bars, with double-wishbones at the front and a live axle at the rear. From 1954, a V-8 engine became available, while the following year the M337 “six” was stretched to 2,077 cc for greater torque. In this guise, the newly minted 501 Sechszylinder was good for 145 km/h.

A rare Baur-built cabriolet, chassis 49024 was completed on 20 June 1955 and despatched to BMW dealer Hopstein & Kaiser of Cologne, Germany. Finished in Ivory with green leather, the car was registered in nearby Bergheim with the registration “B-MW 510”. It later returned to Cologne, where by 1969 its fifth lucky owner, one Jürgen Schwappach, was a student of clearly decadent taste. Schwappach eventually sold the BMW for 2,000 DM and, between 2005 and 2006, the sixth owner restored it from a bare shell.

This fabulous 501 Sechszylinder retains a lovely patinated interior and is accompanied by manuals, invoices, photographs, and a 1960s German logbook, as well as build data from BMW Mobile Tradition.To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/mu23.