BMW Unveils 20th Art Car Based On BMW M Hybrid V8 Le Mans Racer

BMW took the wraps off its 20th 'Art Car' late last week in Paris, France, and it's based on the brand's BMW M Hybrid V8 Le Mans prototype race machine.

Merging both art and motorsports is no easy task, but not for a certain Bavarian automaker many of us know and love. In fact, BMW has a rich history of making ‘Art Cars’ as such, and it ranges from one-ff prototypes, to select iconic road cars, as well as a handful of racecars.

The 20th and latest BMW Art Car was revealed recently and, besides underpinning the Bavarian brand’s latest BMW M Hybrid V8, it wears an artistic livery designed by famed New York-based Jewish-Ethiopian artist Julie Mehretu.

This artistically-styled racecar was presented to the public for the first time at the Centre Pompidou in Paris late last week, and it’s set to be raced at this year’s edition of the prestigious and gruelling annual 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race.

The striking and artistic livery was done by renowned artist Julie Mehretu - a New York-based Jewish-Ethiopian artist.

 Julie created a unique design for the 20th BMW art car, transforming a two-dimensional image into a three-dimensional representation. The design uses the colour and form vocabulary of her monumental painting "Everywhen" (2021-2023) as a starting point. The painting is currently on view at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice. 

The abstract visual form is created from digitally altered photographs, superimposed in layers of dot grids, neon-coloured veils, and black markings. Julie's inspiration for the car's design came from the idea of the painting dripping into the car. 

“The whole BMW Art Car project is about invention, about imagination, about pushing limits of what can be possible. I don’t think of this car as something you would exhibit. I am thinking of it as something that will race in Le Mans. It’s a performative painting. My BMW Art Car was created in close collaboration with motorsport and engineering teams,” Julie explained. 

The livery is based on Julie's renowned "Everywhen" painting, which as been reduxed and reimagined on the surfaces of the Le Mans-bound BMW M Hybrid V8.

Regarding the idea behind the striking livery, Julie added that the idea was to make a remix, a mash-up of her renowned painting. “I kept seeing that painting kind of dripping into the car. Even the kidneys of the car inhaled the painting,” Julie added. 

Following its racing debut, the BMW M Hybrid V8 Art Car racer will become part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. 

As a refresher, BMW’s M performance and motorsports division first unveiled the BMW M Hybrid V8 prototype racer back in late 2022. Built in collaboration with renowned chassis engineering firm Dallara, and it’s powered by a 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo mill augmented with a rear-mounted ‘MGU’ e-motor supplied by Bosch and a compact battery pack.

The BMW M Hybrid V8 Art Car will race at the famed Le Mans 24 Hours enduro next month where it will compete against other similar prototypes from rivals Ferrari, Porsche, and Lamborghini. KR