Published February 26, 2024 | Last update August 25, 2025 | 13 models online
Hervé Poulain is an amateur racing driver, art collector and auctioneer from France. It was his idea to have famous artists paint brand new racing cars and race these at Le Mans. He and BMW started a complete new kind of racing cars.
1975 Le Mans 24h, BMW 3.0 CSL. The BMW entered by Hervé Poulain was the very first BMW Art Car. The livery was designed by Alexander Calder, a German artist and friend of Poulain. The car was fast in qualifying but retired early in the race.
#93 Hervé Poulain (F) / Jean Guichet (F) / Sam Posey (USA) – DNF
BMW 3.0 CSL – BMW M49/3 – 3.5 liter straight-6 injection – approx. 450 hp. Weight 1100 kg. Dunlop tires. Chassisnr. unknown
- SOLIDO #unknown (diecast)
1976 Le Mans 24h, BMW 3.0 CSL turbo. To compete with the very successful Porsche 935, BMW fitted the proven CSL with a turbocharger. The 750 hp super saloon only raced at Silverstone and Le Mans. At Le Mans the car was painted by artist Frank Stella and is the second in the Art Car range, an initiative by Hervé Poulain.
#41 Hervé Poulain (F) / Brian Redman (GB) / Peter Gregg (USA) – DNF
BMW 3.0 CSL turbo – 3.2 liter BMW M49/4 straight-6 turbo, approx. 750 hp. Weight 1050 kg. Goodyear tires. Steel monocoque, chassisnr. #2275980
- SOLIDO #unknown (diecast)
1977 Le Mans 24h, BMW 320i. In 1977 this BMW 320 IMSA, painted by Roy Lichtenstein, was the third BMW Art Car.
#50 Hervé Poulain (F) / Michel Mignot (F) – 9th overall / 2nd in IMSA GT
BMW 320i (E21) – 2.0 liter BMW M12/7 straight-4 injection, approx. 300 hp. Goodyear tires. Weight 800 kg. Steel monocoque, chassisnr. unknown
- LUSO #unknown (diecast)
Update August 8, 2025. Today I was in the Louwman Museum in The Hague (NL). 8 BMW Art Cars were there on display. Unfortunately, the Warhol M1 had already left, but the Calder, Stella and Lichtenstein cars were there as well as the Koons M3 and some street cars.
1979 Le Mans 24h, BMW M1. For the fourth time in five years, Hervé Poulian entered a BMW Art Car at Le Mans. After Calder, Stella and Lichtenstein the series reached its high with this BMW M1 hand painted by Andy Warhol. While the others all made their designs on 1:5 scale models, Warhol hand-painted the actual car in only 23 minutes.
#76 Hervé Poulain (F) / Marcel Mignot (F) / Manfred Winkelhock (D) – 6th overall / 2nd in IMSA GTX
BMW M1 – 3,5 liter BMW M88/1 straight-6 injection, approx. 470 hp. Dunlop tires. Weight 1020 kg. Steel monocoque, chassisnr. unknown
- SOLIDO #unknown (diecast)
1999 Le Mans test, BMW V12 LMR. BMW entered three cars for the test day of this year’s Le Mans. #16 was a real Art Car designed by German artist Jenny Holzer. It didn’t compete in the 24-hour race where BMW only entered the #15 and #17 cars, not without success.
#16 Tom Kristensen (DK) / Joachim Winkelhock (D) – 5th
BMW V12 LMR – 6.0 liter BMW S70/3 V12 60º, approx. 550 hp. Michelin tires. Weight 900 kg. Carbon fibre monocoque, chassisnr. Williams #004/99
- MINICHAMPS BMW 80 42 0 008 552 (diecast)
2024 Le Mans 24h, BMW M Hybrid V8. It took 25 years before BMW was back at Le Mans with an official Art Car. The M Hybrid V8 #20 was designed by Jule Mehretu, an American artist with Ethiopian roots.
#20 René Rast (D) / Robin Frijns (NL) / Sheldon van der Linde (SA) – DNC
BMW M Hybrid V8 – 4.0 liter BMW P66/3 V8 90° twin turbo hybrid – approx. 680 hp + 70 hp. Michelin tires. Weight 1050 kg. Carbon fibre monocoque, chassisnr. Dallara Dallara #P22B 005.
- NOREV BMW BMW 80 42 5 B54 CD0 (diecast)
No official Art Cars, but just as beautiful
The next BMW Art Cars were almost all street cars besides the beautiful 2010 BMW M3 that was painted by Jeff Koons. Unfortunately there are no affordable 1/43 models from that one. In 1980 and 1981 three more BMW M1’s raced Le Mans and Nürburgring that can almost be called BMW Art Cars.
1980 Le Mans 24h #83 Didier Pironi (F) / Marcel Mignot (F) / Dieter Quester (A) – 14th / 4th in IMSA GTX
1980 1000 km Nürburgring #201 Nelson Piquet (BR) / Hans J. Stuck (D) – 3rd overall / 1st in IMSA GTX
1981 Le Mans 24h #71 Christian Danner (D) / Leopold von Bayern (D) / Peter Oberndorfer (D) – DNF
BMW M1 – 3.5 liter BMW M88/1 straight-6 injection, approx. 470 hp. Dunlop tires. Weight 1020 kg. Steel monocoque
- #83 QUARTZO Q3039 (diecast)
- #201 MINICHAMPS MC430 802501 (diecast)
- #71 QUARTZO Q3044 (diecast)
other non-official art cars
2011 Super GT Fuji, BMW Z4 GT3. The BMW Z4 street version is no comparison to an Audi R8 or Ferrari 458 that are twice as expensive. The GT3 racing version is another story: It’s equipped with a BMW Motorsport V8 engine from the M3 and very competitive. It’s now also being used in the Japanese Super GT 300 series where GT3 cars are being accepted. The Goodsmile Racing car wins 4 races and the championship.
#4 Nobuteru Taniguchi (J) / Taku Bamba (J) – 1st GT300
Goodsmile BMW Z4 GT3 (E89) – 4.4 liter BMW P65B44 V8 90º, approx. 510 hp. Yokohama tires. Weight 1190 kg. Steel monocoque, chassisnr. unknown
- EBBRO GSR&Studie Team with UKYO 2011 (resin)
2012 Super GT Okayama, BMW Z4 GT3.The past years Goodsmile Racing was sponsored by virtual singer Hatsune Miku and now by Project Mirai, a SEGA game which is a spin off from Hatsune Miku. The team wasn’t as succesful as in 2011, this year the sister car with #0 won one race.
#4 Masahiro Sasaki (J) / Taku Bamba (J) – 18th GT300
Goodsmile BMW Z4 GT3 (E89) – 4.4 liter BMW P65B44 V8 90º, approx. 510 hp. Yokohama tires. Weight 1190 kg. Steel monocoque, chassisnr. unknown
- EBBRO GSR&Studie Team with UKYO 2012 (resin)
2015 Spa-Francorchamps 24h, BMW Z4 GT3. Alessandro Zanardi makes another return to the race track. This time in a ROAL Motorsport prepared BMW Z4 GT3. The VROOOAAW is dedicated to Michel Vaillant, another motorsport hero that never quits. Zanardi drove together with ex F1 driver Timo Glock and DTM champion Bruno Spengler and finished 25th overall.
#9 Alessandro Zanardi (I) / Bruno Spengler (CAN) / Timo Glock (D) – 25th / 12th PRO
ROAL BMW Z4 GT3 (E89) – 4.4 liter BMW P65B44 V8 90º, approx. 510 hp. Pirelli tires. Weight 1190 kg. Steel monocoque, chassisnr. unknown
SPARK Michel Vaillant MV05 (resin)
2020 Spa-Francorchamps 24h, BMW M6 GT3. Boutsen Ginion entered a real BMW art car in this year’s 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps. The livery was designed by American artist Peter Halley. BMW factory driver Jens Klingmann shared the wheel with three amateur drivers. The beautiful car finished a credible 5th in the PRO-AM category.
#10 Jens Klingmann (D) / Karim Ojjeh (UAE) / Gilles Vannelet (F) / Benjamin Lessennes (B) – 25th / 5th GT3 PRO-AM
Boutsen BMW M6 GT3 (F13) – 4.4 liter BMW P63 V8 90º twin turbo, approx. 525 hp. Pirelli tires. Weight 1260 kg. Steel monocoque, chassisnr. unknown
- SPARK SB387 (resin)
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