Art cars have a long tradition at BMW. For almost 50 years, the Munich-based company has commissioned well-known artists to design its racing cars for selected highlights. In 2024, the internationally renowned New York artist Julie Mehretu was allowed to transform the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8, which started at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (FRA) on 15/16 June, into a ‘performative painting’ based on one of her artworks.

Inspired by her monumental painting ‘Everywhen’, she transferred the two-dimensional motif into a three-dimensional representation that captures dynamics and movement. The abstract visual form of the Art Car was created by superimposing digitally altered photographs with dot grids, neon-coloured veils and characteristic black markings. This elaborately designed Art Car is not only intended to be a work of art, but also a symbol of the fusion of technology, design and motorsport.

The idea for the first BMW Art Car came from French auctioneer and racing driver Hervé Poulain. On his initiative, the American artist Alexander Calder painted a BMW 3.0 CSL in 1975. Hervé Poulain drove this car himself in the 1975 24 Hours of LeMans. The following year, the artwork with black lines created by New Yorker Frank Stella, also based on a BMW 3.0 CSL, started at LeMans in 1976. The cars later designed by Roy Lichtenstein (1977), Andy Warhol (1979) and Jenny Holzer (1999) also took part in the 24 Hours of LeMans.

A number of other renowned artists have designed BMW production and racing cars, such as Ernst Fuchs (1982), Robert Rauschenberg (1986), Michael Nelson Jakamarra (1989), Ken Done (1989), Matazo Kayama (1990), César Manrique (1990), A. R. Penck (1991), Esther Mahlangu (1991), Sandro Chia (1992), David Hockney (1995) and Olafur Eliasson (2007), while the last BMW Art Car to date - a BMW M3 GT2 - was designed by Jeff Koons in 2010. The racing car with the starting number 79 (a homage to the BMW M1 designed by Andy Warhol in 1979) took part in the 24 Hours of LeMans 2010.