Glamping in the 1960s

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Camping may have the name to be anything but prestigious, but since the 2000s or so a high-status version took a flight: glamping. That’s glamorous camping, with the luxuries of five star hotel accommodation alongside the adventure of sleeping into the great wide open. Looking at this photograph, the camping on its own appears to be rather, erm, traditional. There’s a tiny little tent, some fold-up seats and a table, but that’s about it. Oh - is that a pair of swimming pants hanging on the tent’s tensioner line? And what’s in the red bucket? The dishes needing washing? But then the vehicle! That is about as glamorous as things could get back in the 1960s, when this photograph was taken.

The car is the BMW 507 Roadster when owned by Hermann Beilharz. Yes, it’s one of 252 made and a rare Series 1, too. What’s more: Beilharz owned it for 51 years and it still shows just 73,000 kilometres on the odometer. Beilharz became the 1957 car’s third owner when it was six years old. He kept it for the next 51 years until 2014. He cherished it and used it on his wedding day. Only in 2014 he sold it to the fourth owner, who plans to keep it for a considerable shorter time span. Originally white, Beilharz decided the current shade of sea green fitted the car better, and it still wears that. The car comes with a set of colour-coded Rudge wheels, but no mention is made of the colour-coded tent, seen above. Full description by RM Sotheby’s, who are offering this rare oily rag for sale this weekend, here.

(Words editor, picture courtesy RM Sotheby's)

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