Munich car museum restores Elvis's old roadster for karaoke nights

Elvis Presley is said to have changed the original white colour of his BMW 507 roadster to red after women kept writing messages on it in lipstick. Photo: BMW AG/dpa

For decades, the iconic roadster driven by Elvis Presley was doing nothing but gathering rust in storage. But now the rock 'n' roll legend's former BMW has finally been restored and has gone on display in a Munich museum dedicated to famous German cars.

The King's original BMW 507 roadster has joined the classic car exhibits in Bavaria's Motorworld museum and events space, located in an impressive former railway repair factory in Munich, the same city where BMW has its headquarters.

Visitors can do their own renditions of Elvis songs next to his old convertible, however according to a spokeswoman, the karaoke plans are on hold for the time being due to pandemic restrictions.

After many years in the US, the car's arrival in Munich has brought it closer to home, as it was not only made in Germany, but purchased there too.

According to BMW, Presley bought the 150-horsepower car in Frankfurt shortly after he began his military service in 1958 and sold it again in the US about two years later.

Elvis reportedly changed the colour of his roadster to red after female fans kept writing him messages on the car's white paint job.

Elvis later sold on the car for US$3,500 (RM14,400), after which it changed hands several times and ended up in storage in California for decades.

It was restored to its original design by BMW Group Classic between 2014 and 2016. - dpa