Elvis and his lipstick messages of love

Elvis Presley, the “King of Rock’n’Roll”, adored cars and knew exactly what he liked: beautiful, seductive ones like the BMW 507 that he purchased in Germany in 1958 when, although still only 23 years old, he was already well known for his music, produced by Sub Records. But what exactly was Elvis doing in Germany? Perhaps the last thing you might expect of someone who was already an established star: military service at the Friedberg US Army base near Hessen!

The car in question (chassis #70079), having rolled off the assembly line on 13th September 1957, was not brand new. It had already appeared at the Frankfurt International Motor Show and been used for test drives by the press, before being sold to the legendary racing driver Hans Stuck, who, earlier in 1958, had driven it to victory in various hill climbs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. After Presley purchased the car, it was registered with a temporary US military plate. These military plates were changed every year, a circumstance that later made identification of the car particularly difficult. Furthermore, Elvis had the car, originally white, repainted in red in order to conceal the messages that his fans would scrawl in lipstick on its body, something that the young recruit’s superiors obviously could not tolerate!