Paul And Jayne Queck’s 1956 BMW 502 Shines At Legends East

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 Queck and his family were overjoyed with the results. “We are still walking on air after this past weekend,” he says. “The restoration of our 502 was a long labor of love.” The weekend was a family affair for the Quecks, Paul noting, “[I loved] seeing my wife, two sons, and my daughter and her husband helping at the show. Also, my two granddaughters, a brother and his extended family, and a first cousin and her family [attended].” Having been a BMW CCA member of the Hoosier Chapter for just shy of two decades, Queck shared the beginning of his 502’s story in the September 2010 issue of Roundel, and some of the nearly completed restoration details in a more recent article, “The Rebirth of a Champion,” in the Fall/Winter 2022 issue of BimmerLife. At Legends East, he retold some of the 502’s tale, and said, “The car’s previous owner, Achilles Friedrich, brought the car on the boat with him and his family when they immigrated to the U.S. in 1965. With his wife, Hildegard, and his daughter, Sibylle, he drove the car from the East Coast to California. In 1969, the car’s engine threw a rod when Hildegard drove into a flash flood while taking Sibylle to school. That was the last time the car ran on its own power until this year. When the 502 was accepted into the HHI Concours, I informed Sibylle, who lives in Boston. She had not seen the car since 2009, when it was a rust bucket sitting in her father’s [Achilles] yard in Oregon. Sibylle decided to fly to Hilton Head to see her father’s restored car.”

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.

From your BMW CCA family, congratulations Paul and Jayne Queck on a weekend of firsts and well-deserved recognition with your wonderful 1956 BMW 502!—Mike Bevels

[Photos by Jon van Woerden, HHI Concours, and courtesy of BMW CCA.]

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