bmw art cars

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

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

Source

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