BMW has unveiled the latest in a long line of its famous art cars, this one taking the form of an M6 GTLM designed by the "American master of conceptual art" John Baldessari. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that, but you'll have to excuse us for being a little underwhelmed this time around, the finished product appearing not too dissimilar to something you'd expect from a child let loose on the Forza livery editor.
That said, we thought we'd use the opportunity take a look back through some of BMW's more celebrated designs and the artists behind them. As always we'd love to hear your opinions. What's your take on Baldessari's effort? Which is the best art car ever made? And, for the slightly higher-brow PHers out there, which artist would you like to see given a shot at the next art car?
BMW 3.0 CSL - Alexander Calder
The original BMW art car and arguably still the best, this 3.0 CSL was one of artist Alexander Calder's final projects before his death. Forced to retire from its 1975 Le Mans debut after just seven hours due to a faulty propshaft, its place in automotive history was solidified nonetheless. Having laid the foundation for the art car project and ensured a legacy for Calder which extended far beyond the sculptures he was best known for during his lifetime, it never raced again, but has been on display ever since.
BMW 320i (E21) - Roy Lichtenstein
Following Frank Stella's incredible graph-paper covered 1976 CSL, Roy Lichtenstein's 320i was unveiled at the Pompidou Centre in 1977 before going on to finish first in class at that year's Le Mans. An "enumeration of everything a car experiences", the design depicts the landscape through which the artist imagined the car would pass.
Without doubt the most famous artist to have his signature grace the bodywork of an art car, Andy Warhol rounded off the project's greatest decade by daubing the project's greatest model. His design is one of the least refined, with clearly visible brush strokes and blurred boundaries between the colours. This in part was a result of Warhol's desire to create "a vivid depiction of speed" but also due to Warhol's insistence that he paint the entire car himself, rather than designing a scale model to be duplicated by assistants as previous artists had opted to do. Taking part in the 1979 Le Mans 24 Hours, the Warhol M1 finished in sixth place overall and second in class.
BMW 635 CSi - Robert Rauschenberg
A theatre costume and set designer who became one of the 20th century's most radical artists, Robert Rauschenberg was the first artist to use other people's artwork to make up his design. With Bronzino's "Portrait of a Young Man" on the left and a painting by French neo-classicist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres on the right, the car also featured pictures of trees and grasses to illustrate the environmental impact caused by cars. Unfortunately the car was created solely as an artwork and never raced.
BMW Touring Prototype - Sandro Chia
As a child Italian born artist Sandro Chia enjoyed painting graffiti on cars, and given the chance he covered every surface of his E36-based BMW Touring racer. Speaking about his design, comprised of vibrant colours and faces, he said, "The automobile is a much coveted object within our society. It is the centre of attraction. People look at it. This car reflects those looks."
Arguably BMW's best looking art car since the 70s, Jeff Koons' M3 GT2 raced at Le Mans in 2010. Driven by Andy Priaulx, Dirk Muller and Dirk Werner it wore the number 79 as a tribute to Andy Warhol's M1. Unfortunately it was unable to emulate the success of that car, struggling with technical problems and retiring just five hours into the race. Speaking of his design Koons said "Race cars are like life, they are powerful and there is a lot of energy... There is a lot of power under that hood and I want to let my ideas transcend with the car, it's really to connect with that power."
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