5 BMW Art Cars We Love

If you are in New Delhi, you must have heard about the new 1992 BMW 3 series racing prototype parked inside. This car is showcased at the India Art Fair and is one of the signature items in BMW's Art Car collections. It is not very common for you to hear about a big-name brand like BMW investing in Art cars; well, they did not.

The BMW Art Car Collection started when French art aficionado and race car driver HervePoulain, along with BMW sports Director JochenNeerpasch asked Alexander Calder, their friend and designer, to design a car for them. This resulted in the stylish BMW 3.0 CSL, which was also a part of the 24 hour Le Mans in the year 1975.

Here it was able to gain the crowd's attention and quickly became a favourite for everyone. Since then, about 17 international designers have been a part of this effort, and the results have been breathtaking. Here mentioned are the best of the lot and why they were considered to be so.

BMW M1:

Known to be one of the best-looking BMWs yet, with Andy Warhol's paint on it, it just became that much better. Andy Warhol is known for his pop art movement and is considered to be an icon in the art community, and he really did do justice to the car.

Andy Warhol's main inspiration was the depiction of speed. He said in an interview, 'if the car has such immense speed, all contours and colours will become blurred,' and that is exactly how it looked at the end. This 6-cylinder M1 3.5 litre engine sure does look like it has run through a few cans of paint.

BMW 3.0 CSL:

The first car to ever be given to an artist, the BMW 3.0 CSL is still deemed to be one of the best-looking BMWs to ever surface in the car industry. If this car wasn't a success in the community, the other 16 of the Art Car Collection would have never been made. There were quite a few CSLs on the grid in the 1975 race, and Herve Poulain made sure he made his one stand out.

He gave the car to artist Alexander Calder, who really helped make this car look its best. However, due to a defective prop shaft, the car had to give up after 7 hours in the 24-hour race, but this did not mean anything. Even though its racing career ended, it has ever since then been considered as a poster car. The 6 cylinder, 3.2 litre CSL could do a top speed of 291 kmph.

BMW M3 GT2:

Painted by renowned artist Jeff Koons, the M3 GT2 wears the same number as does Warhol's M! as a tribute. This car was made in the 2010s, and just like Warhol's car, Koons wanted to showcase how fast it is. However, while Warhol tried smashing all colours together and blurring the contours, Koons took a different approach to it.

He added sharp lines to the car using some very vibrant colours but showcased speed since all streaks went from the front to the back. The car looked almost like it ran through a wind tunnel with testing fluid all over it. It is undoubtedly a modern approach to the design of the car and makes quite a lot of sense since, with a 4-Litre V8 engine, this car can do top speeds of 300 kmph.

BMW 320i:

The new 320s don't really place well in the market and are considered to be a flop in several markets. However, all of this was untrue in the year 1977. The launch of this car came with an elaborate aero kit, extended bumpers, a massive spoiler, and big air scoops. This was not a common sight in cars during that time.

It boasted a 2 litre, 4 cylinder engine that could produce 300 bhp, and Lichtenstein took a keen interest in this. His main objective was to make the car hug the road wherever it went. The design of the 320i is deliberately made low so that it looks like a part of the road. Roy is known to be one of the founding members of American pop art and carried his style to his car as well.