The 501 was the first car built by BMW in Bavaria.

Unless you are at least a septuagenarian, chances are you have no idea that there were the Baroque Angels long before the Charlie's Angels. While the latter refers to a fictitious team of female private detectives, the former is a real as Rin Tin Tin, and to be precise, "Baroque Angels" is the nickname for the 501, a luxury car produced by BMW between 1952 and 1958.

Well, it's simply because the luxury sedans reminded the German public of the carved wooden figures of the Baroque period. When you see the 501, you realize the nickname was spot on.

BMW first introduced the 501 at the 1951 Frankfurt Motor Show. It was the marque’s first release after WWII. This model was also the first car BMW built in Bayern (Bavaria). Interestingly, the nameplate got cheaper with each new installment. The BMW 501 went through several alterations culminating in a parallel model that BMW tagged 501 V8.

The first alteration was the 501A in 1954, with a price tag of $430 (in today’s dollar value compared to Deutsche Mark) less than the price of the original 501, even though both models had similar trim and features. The 501B that came later was equally $265.755 cheaper than the 501A, continuing the somewhat tradition of progressive price reduction, although both cars featured the same M337 engine. 501 continued production four years after the release of its actual successor in 1954, the BMW 502.

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Remember what we said about the BMW “parallel” 501 V8 model? BMW’s then Chief Engineer Alfred Böning knew from the get-go that the planned six-cylinder motor would be subpar with the 501's size and weight. So, BMW accepted Boning’s proposal to develop a larger engine for future Baroque Angels.

That’s the story of how Baroque Angels got a more powerful cousin toting OHV V8 motor to replace the original 2.0L 6-cylinder engine with 60 horsepower and 96 lb-ft of torque. The new V8 was a 2.6L Oldsmobile Rocket V8-inspired pushrod single overhead camshaft motor. It could produce 90 horsepower. The engine differed from the Oldsmobile V8 by its smaller size and aluminum block and cast-iron cylinder liners.

Despite the Bavaria/Detroit distance, the 1952 BMW 501 was good for the North American market as a 4-door, 4-speed manual transmission sedan. You see, the Bavarian State Police of that era considered the V8 Baroque Angels a God-sent hurry-up wagon. Why? The bad guys should have fast cars like the Porsche 356 Speedster or Merc 300 SL as a getaway car to rival the speed of Baroque Angels. Fortunately for the Bavarian law enforcement, the 1950s nogoodniks weren’t that sophisticated.

The German police force loved Baroque Angels so much that it issued them to highways and country road traffic police units. The original 501 V6 engine could vroom from 0 to 60 mph in 20.7 seconds, but the V8 had an even faster acceleration, with a top speed of 90 mph. In the spirit of civic responsibility, BMW equipped the police Angels with a Lorenz radio to aid dispatch-responder communication.

The Bayern München police force acquired 17 units of the 501 and would not retire them until 1971, only because they were rusting and BMW had moved on. The increased engine power wouldn’t have much effect on the car’s performance and handling without an efficient all-round powertrain.

Baroque Angels came in an all-new post-war chassis featuring a perimeter frame, double A-arm front suspension with torsion bar springs, a Rack & Pinion-like steering system, and a live axle with torsion bar springs at the rear. The position of the gearbox may seem at odds with the shifter, but the front passengers had more legroom.

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The average price of the 1952 BMW 501 was $1,700, approximately $17,885 in today's money. This was when the average household income was $3,800, and $9,000 could buy a new home. So, despite the Baroque Angels being a police favorite, it was still a luxury sedan for people who could afford it. Even so, the Angels cost attractively less than the Mercedes-Benz competitor at that time.

Concours quality V8 variations of the 1952 BMW 501 sedans are available for sale at Hagerty’s with an average price of $32,000 at the time of writing this article. Hagerty-North American, and the world’s largest provider of specialty insurance for classic vehicles, has sold Baroque Angels with prices ranging from $24,200 to $341,000. Hagerty’s most recent Baroque Angel sale, a 1957 BMW 502 Super, went for $48,160 in 2021.

Comparatively, the 1952 to 1958 BMW 501 were a commercial success. With 8,911 sold, the nameplate enjoyed higher sales volume than its main competitor, the Borgward V6 sedans. The bestselling of the Angels, including the 1954 502s and the 1965 3200CS, was the 1954 to 1962 BMW 501 V8, with 5,914 units sold.

It was no small feat for BMW, considering that Mercedes, especially Mercedes-Benz 220, ruled the luxury car sector in the 1950s. So, it was an uphill climb for BMW as it fought for a foothold in the luxury automobile market, where it rightly belonged before the Second World War and the subsequent loss of its Eisenach manufacturing plant to Autovelo of the Soviet Union.

Weighing 3000 lbs, the BMW 501 had the avoirdupois to help fend off a Daimler-Benz acquisition while supporting the marque’s uphill but steady climb to the top.

Philip Uwaoma, this bearded black male from Nigeria, has single-handedly written more than a million words in the form of articles published on various websites, including toylist.com, rehabaid.com, and autoquarterly.com. Of all the websites and platforms Philip’s work appears on, the absence of his name attached to the articles published on Auto Quarterly is the only one that makes him moan; “ghostwriting sucks.” Albeit, Philip still won’t shy away from writing as a ghost. After all, it's the value he adds to human life with his pen that fuels his passion for writing. He has no dog, no wife- yet- and he loves Rolls Royce more than he really should.