BMW 3200 Michelotti Vignale

The BMW 3200 Michelotti Vignale is a design study by the Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti, built on the base of the BMW 507 and shown at the Turin motor show from 31 October to 11 November 1959. Michelotti followed the American taste of the late 1950s, drawing a body that is angular and straight-lined with hinted tail fins, in contrast to the flowing production 507. Sergio Scaglietti made the body shell and the car was assembled by the Turin coachbuilder Vignale, on the chassis of a 507 with the chassis number 70184. The prototype was painted metallic reddish brown and had a hardtop. It was auctioned by Christie's on 21 April 1986 after belonging to the Earl of Chichester from 1980, bought by the American collector Oscar Davis for 50,760 pounds, who had it restored and painted red, and held by the Blackhawk Museum until the end of 2004, when BMW Classic took it over.