The weekend of Legends of the Autobahn East and the Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance was one for the history books for Paul and Jayne Queck. Although they are self-admitted “car-show novices” and first-time attendees of both events, their 1956 BMW 502 took home high honors on both Saturday, November 5th, and Sunday in early November.
At Legends East on Saturday, the 502 was awarded first place in the BMW Vintage Class, Best of Marque (judged among other BMWs), and Best of Show (judged across all marques in attendance: BMW, Audi, and Mercedes). While these awards would have gained the 502 an entry into the Concours d’Elegance on Sunday, it wasn’t necessary—because the Quecks’ 502 had already been accepted to participate prior to the event. And on Sunday, the 502 won the ACE Hardware of Hilton Head People’s Choice Award and the Palmetto Award at the Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance. As you can see, when I said the Queck’s 502 took home high honors, I wasn’t kidding!

Paul and Jayne Queck and family stand next to their award-winning 1956 BMW 502. [Photo by Jon van Woerden.]

The title page of Paul Queck’s “Seasoned Traveler” article in the September 2010 issue of Roundel, which details the history behind this 1956 BMW 502.
Sibylle hadn’t yet seen the restored car from her childhood because the restoration was only recently completed. Queck explained his motivation for restoring the 502 and said, “We just finished the eleven-year restoration a month ago. My only goal when I bought the car was to save it, and after saving it I wanted for others to be able to see it. I thought Legends of the Autobahn East would be a good place to take it so people could see what a BMW 502 looked like—and what our car, with its unique story, looked like. After registering it for Legends East, friends encouraged me to apply to show it at the Sunday Concours d’Elegance. I did—and the car was accepted.”
I can only imagine Sibylle’s surprise seeing the current better-than-showroom-condition 502 in comparison to the rust-laden 502 of years past.

Paul and Jayne standing with their People’s Choice Award. [Photo by Rob Kaufman, Kaufman Photography.]
[Photos by Jon van Woerden, HHI Concours, and courtesy of BMW CCA.]