BMW Art Cars celebrate 50th anniversary.

For the last half a century, BMW Art Cars have provided a platform for artists to creatively express their fascination with cars.

To mark its 50th anniversary, the unique BMW Art Car Collection is now embarking on a world tour. The 20 iconic vehicles are exemplars of the BMW Group’s commitment to the arts worldwide – which has so far included over a hundred initiatives in the fields of contemporary art, music, film and design. From Alexander Calder to Julie Mehretu, BMW Art Cars tell stories of speed, creativity and cultural diversity.

The story of BMW Art Cars started in 1975, when the French racing driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain came up with the idea of joining the 24 Hours of Le Mans in an artist-styled BMW. Jochen Neerpasch, who was head of BMW Motorsport at the time, was completely on board with the idea, and the first BMW Art Car was born: a BMW 3.0 CSL in strong primary colours by the American sculptor Alexander Calder. As soon as Calder’s car hit the track, it was a favourite with spectators. For the very first time, art and motorsport had come together in what was to be the beginning of a unique tradition.

Over the years a number of other renowned artists realised their creative visions on BMW vehicles too. In a break with his usual practice of playing with mass production methods, Andy Warhol himself put brush to bodywork in 1979, transforming a BMW M1 into a painted representation of speed – in just 28 minutes. Previously, in 1977, Roy Lichtenstein had covered a BMW 320i in his trademark Ben Day dots, depicting the rising and setting sun as a symbol of the 24-hour cycle of the Le Mans race. For his car, Jeff Koons combined the dynamic aesthetic of the vehicle with his characteristic pop-art elements to create an absolute explosion of colour. Other big names in the BMW Art Car Collection include Jenny Holzer, Olafur Eliasson, Cao Fei and David Hockney. By working in their personal style, they have each created their very own unique Art Car.

In May 2024 BMW presented its 20th Art Car, designed by the Ethiopian-American artist Julie Mehretu. Her BMW M Hybrid V8 is a dynamic and expressive artwork, and just a few weeks after reaching completion, it was on the starting line of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The design is based on her largescale painting "Everywhen", combining abstract forms with an energetic colour palette in a powerful continuation of the tradition of BMW Art Cars.

Mehretu was also the first artist in the collection to join forces with BMW and venture above and beyond the car as an object to develop an ambitious cultural programme called the African Film and Media Arts Collective (AFMAC). Over a period of two years, the pan-African AFMAC network will bring together around 60 creatives from the world of film and media art for workshops in Lagos, Dakar, Tangier, Nairobi and Cape Town. Together, they will produce five new film works that will debut in an exhibition in November 2026 at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, and later become a permanent fixture in the BMW Art Car Collection.

To mark its 50th anniversary, the BMW Art Car Collection will go on a world exhibition tour, stopping in Vienna, Hong Kong, Johannesburg and elsewhere. At each location selected vehicles will be showcased at renowned museums, art fairs and classic car events. The tour will be accompanied by a new edition of the BMW Art Cars catalogue, miniatures of selected cars and the forthcoming edition of the PUMA x BMW M Motorsport Art Cars fashion collection.

BMW Art Cars are more than just cars: they are artworks on wheels that blur the boundaries between design, technology and art. Fanning the fascination for these unique objects even further, the anniversary tour will write the next chapter of their history in the global world of art. 

The object of fascination for 50 years, BMW Art Cars stand for creative collaboration and cultural exchange.