bmw art car

Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black by Jeff Koons

Earlier this summer my colleague Noah Joseph reported on the BMW M3 GT2 painted by famed artist Jeff Koons as part of BMW's renowned Art Car program. Now it seems Koons has adapted the design to the new limited edition Aston Martin Carbon Black DBS. Based on the top-of-the-line GT that serves as James Bond's ride of choice, the Carbon Black edition features a unique black paint process designed to deflect the light at different angles, plus lightweight carbon-Kevlar seats upholstered in black leather with silver stitching, piano black trim, special wheels and more. We're not sure why Koons' design would be applied over the special black finish, but there you have it. Koons' colorful pattern is meant to evoke "power, motion and bursting energy." The Aston was spotted in the Netherlands and is slated to participate in The Challenge 2010 race at the end of this month.

[via LuxuryLaunches]

Tags: art car, artist, Aston Martin, Aston Martin Carbon Black DBS, Aston Martin DBS, BMW, BMW art car, contemporary art, Jeff Koons, supercar

McLaren Art Car by César Tipped to Top €2 Million at Auction

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Auctions

When automobiles break the seven-figure mark at auction, they're usually pre-war or even post-war classics. But a sportscar from the 90s? This one is an exception.

As it is, the McLaren F1 remains a highly coveted collectors item, pristine examples still commanding seven-figure price tags in their own right. A race-spec McLaren F1 GTR is an even more sought-after rarity. But even in this field, this particular example is rarer still.

After racing it at Le Mans in 1994, French industrialist Jean-Luc Maury-Laribiére handed his McLaren over to famed artist César. The result has a similar effect as BMW's own art cars, which makes sense considering that the McLaren is powered by BMW engines and enjoyed factory backing in its motorsport exploits. This one-of-a-kind example is set to cross the auction block during the Le Mans Classic on July 9, where auctioneers Artcurial Motors anticipates it will fetch between $2.5 and 3 million.

Gallery: McLaren F1 GTR art car by César

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Tags: art car, art cars, artcurial, artcurial motors, bmw art car, bmw art cars, césar, cesar, f1, f1 gtr, le mans, le mans classic, mclaren, mclaren F1, mclaren f1 gtr

BMW M3 GT2 Art Car by Jeff Koons

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Art, Sports

There's a great history to BMW's art cars. Over the past 35 years, sixteen such collaborations have been undertaken between the German automaker and famous artists. Among them were none other than Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. And now BMW has unveiled its latest.

The work of American artist Jeff Koons, this M3 GT2 race car was unveiled in Paris before heading to the 24 Hours of Le Mans next week where it will actually compete as one of the two cars BMW is fielding during this year's iconic race.

This isn't the first time, however, that a BMW art car has been used in an actual race: other notable examples included Alexander Calder's 1975 3.0 CSL and Jenny Holzer's 1999 V12 LMR. In fact many of the original art cars competed at Le Mans. Let's just hope that, like it predecessors, this one doesn't crash during the race.

Tags: 24 heures du mans, 24 hours of le mans, art car, art cars, bmw, bmw art car, bmw art cars, bmw m3 gt2, gt2, jeff koons, le mans, m3, me gt2

BMW Art Cars go on tour to LA, New York and Mexico

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Events, Art

In 1975, BMW racing driver Hervé Poulain got the idea to invite an artist to paint his car. American artist Alexander Calder answered the call, giving birth to the BMW Art Car project, which has attracted the participation of some 16 renowned artists from around the world to use BMW automobiles as their canvas. The vehicles are housed in BMW's museum in Munich, but have been known to travel sporadically; their latest tour brings four of the most famous examples to North America. The Art Car creations of Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein (pictured above), and Robert Rauschenberg are on display now at the BP Entrance to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art until February 24, before they head to the east coast to be displayed at New York's Grand Central Terminal from March 24 until April 6 and then southward to three locations in Mexico. The rolling works of art will be accompanied by a video documenting the history of the project and the artists at work, which you can view after the jump along with the images in the gallery below.

Gallery: BMW Art Cars