One of my favorite designers, Count Albrecht Graf Goertz, has passed away at age 92. My admiration relates to the cars he penned, in particular the 1955 BMW 507 and before that, the BMW 503. Both cars were limited production vehicles aimed at restoring BMW’s reputation for building great sports cars. The V-8 powered 507 (seen here with Goertz) is generally acknowledged as one of the world’s most beautiful automobiles, a claim I wholeheartedly support. Later the count worked with the Porsche team on the 911 and consulted to nissan on the design of the Datsun 240Z. Born into the German aristocracy, he emigrated to the US where his work caught the attention of Raymond Loewy, leading to a job with the Studebaker design studio. In 1953 he set up his own studio and as a result influenced the design of many desireable autos. Aside from all that Albrecht Graf Goertz was one cool dude, as this photo clearly shows.

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