Journal

A chronicle of people, places, happenings, and creations we admire.

Restored: Elvis' BMW 507

A fabled BMW 507 once owned by Elvis Presley, has been found and restored to Concours condition by BMW Group Classic.  Driven during his military service in Germany in the 1950s, the legend of Elvis and his cars had begun.  The car was discovered after it was feared to have vanished forever for a period of over 50 years.  The original white paint job was resprayed in lipstick red to solve the issue of female fans scribbling notes in lipstick on it.

Elvis replaced the car with a Chrysler in New York after his service in Germany, the car was sold for the ridiculous price of $4500 dollars to radio moderator Tommy Charles, who went on to race the 507 successfully in numerous races including Daytona, which by then had been swapped for a Chevrolet engine and gearbox.

Space engineer Jack Castor had taken ownership sometime later, using the car as a daily driver then into storage with the intent of restoring it.  Castor had put together a thorough record of the car, it's history, repairs, and photos; a full dossier.  It was only after a meeting and visit by a writer working with Bimmer magazine when the possibility of this being the fabled 'Elvis 507' was discussed.  After some forensics and research, Chassis No.70079 was indeed found to be the genuine article.  BMW Group Classic had heard of this unbelievable find and set to work.

The car was sent to Munich, carefully disassembled, stripped down to the bare metal; structural reinforcements were made to restore rigidity and overall integrity.  The original 3.2 litre V8 was refurbished to new conditioned and reunited with the car after 50 years.  It was reconditioned to exact manufacturer specifications right down to the original paint color of Feather White.

The BMW 'Elvis 507' will be on view at Pebble Beach Concours this month on August 21st.

Upcoming at MoMA: Björk Retrospective

Last night's party at MoMA to kick off the Björk retrospective (opening March 8th) was a heady mixture of art world cognizenti, designers, press, society mavens and those dozens of diehard fans and followers that came dressed in full costumes of their own creation.  Open bars were humming on all floors with friendly and attentive staff; bowls of beef jerky and deep fried potato chips were a welcome and imaginative offering for the evening.

Spanning from 1993's "Debut" after the breakup of the Sugarcubes to the present with her latest album, "Vulnicura", the retrospective covers (most) of her body of work, with the exception of, oddly, the soundtrack from "Dancer in the Dark".  The many (let's just say wacky) costumes and concepts exhibited spoke loudly to her commitment to pushing her ever-morphing envelope at the intersection of music, sound, fashion and film.  

Shown in a black-box felt volcano-lined viewing room, the short film "Black Lake", an ode to love, pain and lament, (presumably based on her breakup with artist Matthew Barney) filmed in and around Iceland's many volcanoes and caves, shows Björk at one point cracking open, bleeding blue lava to aching violins and heavy percussion.  In another viewing room, the extended film includes everything from "Debut" to "Biophilia", with arresting, beautiful and sometimes disturbing imagery that could never be accused of being derivative.

The retrospective runs from March 8-June 7, 2015

www.moma.org

Follow @bjork

Images ©2015 KoS

Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay A2

©Bang & Olufsen

©Bang & Olufsen

Bang & Olufsen return with another innovative offering in the Bluetooth speaker segment.  The BeoPlay A2 is beautifully detailed and has 24-hour playback capability. With True360 sound technology the "sweet spot" is wherever you place it . Clocking in at 1.1kg (2.5 lb.), it's sturdy without the bulk or heavy weight. The BeoPlay A2 comes in an assortment of colors and a 3-year warranty.