[EXPO] The BMW Art Car World Tour makes a stop at Rétromobile 2026

Coming precisely at the moment when BMW was preparing a change in scale with the launch of the 3 series, this project helped showcase the manufacturer’s dedication to motorsport. The choice of painter and sculptor Alexander Calder was also an asset in this regard, as the American had an excellent reputation with the Munich carmaker. Thus began the Art Cars saga. “The factory supplied the maintenance, logistics and car, and guaranteed it would not be sold off after the race,” says Hervé Poulain. “It was up to me to choose the artist, and I entered the race in my own name and under my own responsibility.”

Before even showing up at the Sarthe circuit, the project’s instigators pulled off quite a coup. Wherever it went, the 3.0 CSL coupé, stripped of all advertising, was an instant hit. Decorated with bold blocks of the three primary colours of red, yellow and blue, the BMW clearly stood apart from the other racing cars. Hervé Poulain the rookie was aided and abetted by two leading names: Sam Posey, one of BMW's official drivers in the American IMSA championship, and Jean Guichet, winner of the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car’s race participation unfortunately did not last long, but the global buzz generated by the venture encouraged BMW to repeat the experience.

Then in 1978; it was the turn of Andy Warhol, renowned for his silkscreen prints of Campbell's soup cans and portraits of celebrities, to put his signature to the 320. Hervé Poulain received a model covered from bonnet to tailpipe in pink floral wallpaper, including the windows and windscreen! BMW were slightly disconcerted by the design but accepted the project, only to change their mind a month before Le Mans, as the car was not ready.

But Warhol was given a second chance. The New Yorker was inspired by the design of the M1, the new sports coupé that the German firm had decided to launch. He came up with two very different ideas. The first was impertinent: the sports car was entirely covered in khaki camouflage, which was quickly rejected by Dr Avenarius. The other model was accepted, but the paint splashes and drips without contours were technically impossible to reproduce… unless Warhol himself were to come to Munich to paint his design on the car body. The artist agreed and took over the studio. For several days, he painted the M1 freehand with brushes. The result was sensational, with its dripping pools of colour announcing the advent of Bad Painting. The M1 finished sixth in a rain-soaked race.

During the winter of 1979-1980, Jasper Johns pulled out of painting the M1 for lack of inspiration. Niki de Saint Phalle was also approached but declined. Another figure of pop art, the American James Rosenquist, was sent models. He submitted his designs just as BMW pulled out of Le Mans because they did not have an available car. While Hervé Poulain would never race a BMW again at Le Mans, the manufacturer nonetheless continued its dynasty of Art Cars.