: I have never seen a 503 or 507, but still
: hold out hope that some collector will be bold enough to take
: one out in southern California.

You're talking upwards of half a million Euros for a 507 nowadays and with only just over 250 made, it does take a very bold collector to take them out - though at least rust shouldn't be much of a problem in SoCal. There were about 15 507s there that weekend if I remember right, I doubt I'll ever see as many again. A decent 503 will run you 100000 - 150000 Euros, a relative bargain! Even though both cars were intended to push BMW in the US, I don't know how many made it over in the end.

Elvis' 507 was bought in Germany and I don't believe he shipped it over to the US when he returned.

: There are some Z8 sightings here and there, and the 507 lineage is
: evident there as well.

Yep, that's a sympathetic revision of some of the characteristics of the 507.

Re-edition done well, I'd say. Some serious running gear too. Shame they're all LHD, for us in the UK anyway.

: It is also interesting that "Van
: Goetz", a jewish guy from New York, was plucked from his
: design studio there and taken on by BMW to reverse its declining
: fortune in the US--pretty interesting how quickly the world
: turned around post-war.

It was apparently at the insistence of Max Hoffman, the distributor in the US. Though he was Austrian too, so there was obviously willingness to move on. Von Goertz seems to have gotten involved partway through the 503 design process, but the 507 was all his.

: The propeller logo has always seemed vaguely horological to
: me--what would a Heuer 507 have looked like?

Something Seafarer-ish I reckon, though maybe that's being a bit too obvious...