Two of the most significant BMW Art Cars will appear together for the first time in North America at the 74th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance®. Andy Warhol’s 1979 BMW M1 Group 4 and Julie Mehretu’s 2024 BMW M Hybrid V8 will headline the celebration of 50 years of the BMW Art Car program.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be able to present two exceptional BMW Art Cars at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on the 50th Anniversary of the BMW Art Car initiative,” said Tom Plucinsky, Head of BMW Classic USA. “We have no doubt that the stunning vistas of Pebble Beach will provide a wonderful backdrop for these two works of art by Andy Warhol and Julie Mehretu.”
Origins of the BMW Art Car Program
The BMW Art Car history began in 1975, when French racing driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain commissioned Alexander Calder to paint a BMW 3.0 CSL. Calder’s creation wasn’t just a showpiece—it competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, setting the tone for every Art Car that followed: a blend of art, design, engineering, and motorsport.
Since then, the series has grown into a collection of 20 “rolling sculptures” created by some of the world’s most influential artists, including Roy Lichtenstein, Jenny Holzer, David Hockney, Jeff Koons, Robert Rauschenberg, Esther Mahlangu, Olafur Eliasson, John Baldessari, Cao Fei, and Julie Mehretu. Across five decades, the cars have reflected a wide range of artistic movements—from minimalism and pop art to magical realism, abstraction, concept art, and digital art.
The Art Car program has always been about more than decoration. It’s a platform for artists to interpret speed, movement, and technology in their own language, while celebrating BMW’s engineering and racing heritage.
Warhol’s BMW M1 Art Car No. 4 (1979)
Warhol’s M1 art car came during a period when the artist was experimenting with abstraction and gestural painting. In just 28 minutes, he applied more than thirteen pounds of polymer-based paint directly by hand, leaving visible brush strokes, drips, fingerprints, and scratches. “I attempted to show speed as a visual image,” Warhol explained. “When an automobile is really traveling fast, all the lines and colors are transformed into a blur.”
In 1979, Manfred Winkelhock, Hervé Poulain, and Marcel Mignot drove the car at Le Mans, finishing second in class—a result that underscored the Art Car ethos: a work of art could also be a competitive race machine.
Julie Mehretu’s BMW M Hybrid V8 Art Car No. 20 (2024)
Julie Mehretu, an Ethiopian-born, New York–based artist, built her design on the foundations of her monumental painting “Everywhen” (2021–2023). She transformed the work into layered grids, neon-colored veils, and her signature black markings, then used 3D mapping to wrap the imagery around the BMW M Hybrid V8 endurance racer. The Mehretu’s BMW M Hybrid V8 Art Car debuted at the Centre Pompidou in Paris before taking part in the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans, with its design applied in lightweight foiling to endure the demands of a full day of racing.
BMW Celebrates 50 Years of the 3 Series at Monterey
BMW will also mark the 50th anniversary of the 3 Series at Monterey Car Week. At the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, the 1977 BMW 320i Turbo Group 5 driven by David Hobbs will be on display, alongside the 2004 BMW Team PTG M3 GTR and the 2011 M3 GT ALMS. The BMW Car Club of America will present examples from all seven generations of the 3 Series at the Legends of the Autobahn.
