BMW 507 #70079 left BMW’s Munich factory on September 13, 1957, painted Feather White with black leather interior. Options included a Becker Mexico radio, Rudge knock-off wheels, removable hardtop and the lighted "D" over its rear bumper signifying German registration. BMW sent the car straight from the factory to the Frankfurt auto show - but not to BMW's show display. It stayed outside the hall, demonstrating the 507’s performance. After the debut it continued in that role, driven by Hans Stuck, Sr. in various demonstrations, and by journalists for reviews. Known as “Hillclimb Champion” Stuck had won a slew of hill climbs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland while driving a white BMW 507 with chassis number 70079. Stuck raced it in a few hill climbs in 1958 as well, winning the GT class three times between May and September.

On December 12, 1958 507 #70079 was delivered to Autohaus Wirth in Frankfurt. Eight days later, U.S. Army PFC Elvis Presley took it for a test drive, which he clearly enjoyed enough to buy. Because Elvis was stationed with the Army in Frankfurt, 70079 was registered under Armed Forces plates for 1958 and 1959. Famously, sometime in 1959 70079 received a coat of red paint to try and cover up the lipstick marks left by female fans while the car was parked around Elvis’ Bad Nauheim barrack. Presley was discharged from the U.S. Army on March 2, 1960. He and the 507 returned to the U.S. though there’s no record of whether Elvis himself imported it.

For over 50 years classic auto collectors and BMW enthusiasts have been searching for evidence that the car still existed; indeed for many years it was basically written off. Finally, after an intensive investigation by BMW themselves and a magazine devoted to the marque, it was finally found in Half Moon Bay, a small enclave on the California coast near San Francisco. The 507 had been purchased in 1968 by Jack Castor, an aerospace engineer about Elvis' age who had dreamed of owning a 507 since seeing one while working a summer job in Munich - at almost the exact same time that Presley was driving around Frankfurt in the very same car. Unbelievably, Castor was not aware of the exalted history residing between its wheels. A classic car enthusiast, besides the Elvis roadster his hoard included a Ferrari 250 GT California and a very rare Apollo sports car from the early 1960s.

However, when Castor bought it 70079 was barely recognizable, as in 1966 it had become the property of an Alabama DJ with no sense of history and very little taste. The car had endured many indignities, including having a Chevy 327 V8 stuck under the hood and garish, tuck-and-roll upholstery in the interior. Castor drove it for about five or six years as-is, then put it aside with the intention of returning it to all-original condition. To that end Jack and his brother Tom bought 507 #70089. It was discovered later that 70089 had actually raced against 70079 when both were new. They gathered up as many other necessary parts as they could find for the restoration, and Jack documented their efforts extensively. He’d put together a massive file on the car but despite his extensive research, including leads from sources in both Germany and the U.S., Castor had not established an Elvis connection with any certainty, and even after he did have a good idea of the car’s true historical record, Castor considered the Stuck racing provenance more important than any connection to Presley.

Eventually Jack agreed to sell the 507 directly to BMW Classic, only if they agreed to carry out the most original restoration possible, and retain the Hans Stuck heritage. Both parties wanted to make sure that 70079 didn’t disappear into private collections, never to be seen again except to be sold. It belonged with BMW, and ultimately BMW Classic agreed to restore both of Jack’s 507s, the ex-Stuck/Elvis 70079 and the ex-"Helm Glöckler" 70089. 70089 would return to Castor in California while 70079 remained on loan to BMW Classic, as a permanent display in the Museum and taken out for special events. No plans for any type of vintage racing have ever been discussed by BMW.

In the summer of 2014, a team from BMW Classic flew to San Francisco to gather up both cars and their attendant parts and load them on a plane to Munich. Upon arrival 70079 went straight to the BMW Museum, it was shown throughout the summer in unrestored condition. Both of the 507s had been moved into secure storage not long after their discovery, but by then they’d spent decades exposed to the foggy climate of the California coast. At least its bodywork was all there, if not the original interior or drivetrain. The originality of the metalwork, including the hood and doors, was established right down to the serial number. What hadn’t been thrown away by the crazy DJ was still original, a huge bonus in a car that had been through so much. The car’s original dashboard was missing, so BMW Classic cast a new one. A replacement for the missing V8 engine was built from scratch to produce 150 hp from 3.2 liters, just as it had in 1957.

Jack Castor passed away on November 4, 2014, at the age of 77. The car is being presented as the Elvis 507, which makes sense given that the Elvis connection certainly makes it the most significant of all 507s. For Castor, however, the car’s racing history with Hans Stuck was always more compelling, and he’d intended to restore it to its original condition as a factory demonstrator/racer. As per Jack's wishes, BMW Classic is indeed restoring the car to its original specification. Also as per his wishes the contract with BMW had been amended in September 2014 to transfer 70079 to BMW’s ownership upon Jack’s death, meaning 507 #70079 would remain in the public eye in perpetuity, enjoying a post-comeback career worthy of Elvis’ continued popularity.

BMW is investing 1 billion euros ($1.17 billion) in a new assembly plant in Hungary, its first factory in Europe in nearly two decades as the automaker strengthens its European footprint amid growing protectionism.

The plant will produce 150,000 vehicles a year, the Munich-based carmaker said Tuesday in a statement.

The factory will be able to produce both combustion and electrified BMW models on a single production line, BMW production chief Oliver Zipse said in the statement. "In the future, every BMW Group plant in Europe will be equipped to produce electrified as well as conventional vehicles," he said.

It will be BMW’s first new carmaking facility since 2000, when it decided to construct a site at Leipzig, Germany, a spokesman said, declining to confirm which models the company will produce in Hungary.

“We are now strengthening our activities in Europe to maintain a worldwide balance of production between Asia, America and our home continent,” BMW CEO Harald Krueger said in the statement.

Construction near the town Debrecen, about 124 miles east of Budapest, will start in the second half of 2019.

BMW, like other global carmakers, is under pressure to adjust to shifting global trade politics that are undermining a decades-long move to lower barriers, at the same time of juggling record spending on electric and self-driving cars.

BMW exports most of its popular crossovers from South Carolina to Europe, a strategy that could become increasingly challenged if tariff threats become reality. The German manufacturer announced Sunday it had raised prices for crossovers imported from the U.S. into China after the Asian nation raised tariffs in a retaliatory move.

The Hungary production site will add to BMW's 31 production and assembly facilities globally. Daimler's Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Suzuki have car plants in Hungary, according toAutomotive News Europe's Guide to European Assembly Plants, while PSA Group's Opel builds engines in the country, according to ANE's powertrain map. Carmakers’ output reached 8.08 trillion forint ($29.45 billion) last year, or about 21 percent of economic product, according to official data.

With unemployment at a record-low at 3.6 percent, many manufacturing companies are facing difficulties in filling jobs in Hungary’s strained labor market. The Debrecen factory will add about 1,000 jobs to BMW’s workforce, the company said in its statement.

The list of new vehicles available with a manual transmission grows shorter each year, and for the vast majority of the driving populace, that’s just fine. But driving enthusiasts bemoan each model lost to the advancing wave of computer-controlled everything, closely keeping tabs on which vehicles can still be had with a three-pedal setup. A few might even buy one.

Even sporting European brands are not immune. In BMW’s stable, the 5 Series jettisoned its last 5 and 6 Series sticks (by then relegated to M models) in 2016. Other models went two pedal-only in recent years, including the 228i, 328i, and 428i. But BMW says there’s still a flame that keeps the transmission option alive in certain models, and it’ll keep building them until buyers give up, or our robot overlords take over.

Specifically, BMW means the M variants of the 2, 3, and 4 Series.

Speaking to Car and Driver, BMW M boss Frank van Meel said the manual transmission will not die with the current generation of Bimmer products. However, with autonomy looming on the horizon, he envisions a date when the manual transmission no longer has any practical use (because there won’t be a human driver behind the wheel).

“The bad news is that if we one day have autonomous cars, then the manual cannot work anymore,” van Meel said, “so that would be, let’s say, the natural end. But that’s still some time away.”

Live it up while you still can, seems to be the message here.

In terms of product, one particular model sees a surprising number of buyers opt for a stick shift, ensuring the manual’s availability for at least the near future.

“The BMW M2 Competition still has the manual for a reason, because in the U.S. we have more than a 50 percent take rate on manual transmissions for the M2,” the M chief said. “Buyers vote with their wallets for manual transmissions. Now, being an engineer, I would say from a rational standpoint that even though the manual gearbox is lighter than an automated gearbox, it uses more fuel and is slower, so it doesn’t really make sense . . . But from the emotional standpoint, a lot of customers say, ‘I don’t care, I want to have one.’”

van Meel added, “As long as we have these take rates on M2, and also the M3 and M4, we’re going to offer manuals, because we listen to our customers. Even though as an engineer I’d say we don’t necessarily need one. If demand is so high, then why not fulfill it?”

BMW is ending its European Delivery Program for North American customers, the company has confirmed to Autoblog. The news first broke on the Bimmerpost online forum via an employee of a BWM dealership in the U.S.

“After carefully evaluating the changing BMW U.S. customer preferences towards U.S.-built X vehicles and the declining interest in the European Delivery Program, BMW has made the decision to bring the U.S. market European Delivery Program to a close in the fall of 2020,” spokesman Oleg Satanovsky tells Autoblog.

European Delivery is a special purchase program that allows customers to order any BMW vehicle and have it delivered at the BMW Welt building, right next door to the company’s headquarters in Munich. The program gives buyers discounts of up to 5% off the base price of their vehicle, plus perks like a tour of the plant in Munich, a visit to the BMW Museum, free shuttle to the Munich airport and all shipping issues, including U.S. customs, port processing and wharf handling fees, taken care of.

The last day to submit a pre-reservation form for European Delivery is May 18, while September will be the last month to take advantage of the program. BMW will also reportedly honor deposits for 2021 model-year vehicles under the program by accepting pre-reservation forms without a production number.

The news follows a report in BMG Blog that picking up vehicles at BMW Welt just got more expensive for European customers, with the elimination of the Basic Starter Package pickup option. The BMW Welt was scheduled to reopen Monday after being closed since March 17 because of the coronavirus.

It's a sad end to a neat set of perks for car-buying. It reflects changing interests among U.S. car-buyers, and it's not difficult to imagine that rising costs and complications from the global coronavirus pandemic also may have influenced the decision.

Volvo, however, still has its long-running Overseas Delivery program.

“While fewer customers have been taking advantage of driving their new BMW’s in Europe prior to having their cars shipped to the U.S., we have seen a marked increase in interest in the BMW Ultimate Delivery Experience at our Greenville-Spartanburg facility, which is available for any production BMW vehicle, not just for those built in South Carolina," Satanovsky added.

“The BMW Ultimate Delivery Experience includes classroom and on-track car control instruction at the BMW Performance Center, a tour of Plant Spartanburg, a visit to the BMW Zentrum Museum and finally, a personalized vehicle handover of your new BMW followed by a drive home from the scenic Carolinas.”

But, the most notable part of the day's presentation was the new plan to turn many options into software services. BMW mentioned everything from advanced safety systems like adaptive cruise and automatic high-beams to other, more discrete options like heated seats.

These options will be enabled via the car or the new My BMW app. While some will be permanent and assigned to the car, others will be temporary, with mentioned periods ranging from three months to three years. Some, presumably, will be permanent, but during the stream's Q&A portion BMW representatives demurred on the details.