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It’s half a century since BMW pioneered the intersection between automotive design and fine art. The very first BMW Art Car was unveiled in 1975, the work of American sculptor Alexander Calder. The idea came from French auctioneer and racing driver Hervé Poulai, who convinced Jochen Neerpasch, the founder and head of BMW Motorsport, to let Calder create the livery of the BMW 3.0 CSL he was entering into that year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. Despite not finishing, Poulain’s idea set the stage for more collaborations, buoyed by a positive public reception.
The BMW Art Cars at BMW's Munich HQ
The scheme was driven by a collaboration with Leo Castelli, the pioneering New York art gallerist and dealer. Castelli’s contacts brought Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol into the project to create new liveries for Poulain’s subsequent drives at Le Mans. Then in the early 1980s, the Art Car programme opened up and invited artists to work on standard product models, before returning to a racing focus in 1999. Since then, the BMW Art Car has been a dynamic expression of the company’s commitment to the arts in all its forms, ‘a perfect playground for art and design, technology and innovation, motorsport and engineering’.
Seven of the 20 BMW Art Cars created over the last 50 years
To celebrate the scope and scale of this ongoing corporate commitment, BMW has released archive imagery of the works in progress, as well as announced a worldwide celebratory programme of exhibitions and displays. The BMW Art Car World Tour will roll through 2025 and 2026, taking select cars to auto shows and fairs, including Art Basel Hong Kong, the Shanghai Auto Show, Art Basel and Contemporary Istanbul. There will also be a major display at the Louwman Museum in The Hague throughout July and August 2025, featuring eight of the 20 cars.
The BMW Art Cars and their creators
‘Hervé, win! But drive carefully!’
Alexander Calder and the BMW Art Car #1, BMW 3.0 CSL, 1975
Frank Stella, BMW Art Car #2, BMW 3.0 CSL, 1976
Roy Lichtenstein, BMW Art Car #3, BMW 320 Group 5, 1977
‘I love that car. It has turned out better than the artwork.’
Andy Warhol, BMW Art Car #4, BMW M1 Group 4, 1979
Ernst Fuchs, BMW Art Car #5, BMW 635 CSi, 1982
‘I think mobile museums would be a good idea. This car is the fulfilment of my dream. I would like to do ten more.’
Robert Rauschenberg, BMW Art Car #6, 1986
Michael Jagamara Nelson, BMW Art Car #7, BMW M3 Group A, 1989
Ken Done, BMW Art Car #8, BMW M3 Group A, 1989
Matazo Kayama, BMW Art Car #9, BMW 535i, 1990
César Manrique, BMW Art Car #10, BMW 730i, 1990
AR Penck, BMW Art Car #11, BMW Z1, 1991
Sandro Chia, BMW Art Car #13, BMW M3 GTR, 1992
David Hockney, BMW Art Car #14, BMW 850 CSi, 1995
‘I also thought it would be nice if women could participate other than standing around in bikinis.’
Jenny Holzer, BMW Art Car #15, BMW V12 LMR, 1999
‘These race cars are like life, they are bursting with power and have enormous energy. My ideas are meant to merge with this power – it's all about fully embracing it.’
‘The car should not only race in a physical way but also in the heart.’
‘So you can say, the BMW Art Car is definitely a typical Baldessari and the fastest artwork I ever created!’
‘The whole BMW Art Car project is about invention, about imagination, about pushing limits of what can be possible.’
A selection from the BMW Art Car Collection
Further information on the BMW Art Car Collection can be found at BMW.com