In 1977, Roy Lichtenstein turned a BMW 320i into a piece of his art which was driven at the prestigious Le Mans 24-hour race in France by Frenchmen Herve Poulain and Marcel Mignot, who finished 9th overall and first in class.
When Lichtenstein was drafting his Art Car, he spent a long time thinking about all the things that happens to a car. The result of this critical examination of the car is an amazing blend of aerodynamic qualities on the one hand and artistic skill on the other.
When Lichtenstein created the third BMW Art Car, he said he used “painted lines as a road, pointing the way for the car. The design also shows the scenery as it passes by. Even the sky and sunlight are to been seen….you could list all the things a car experiences – the only difference is that this car mirrors all these things even before it takes to the road.”
Taking a closer look, the car’s design casts a picture of passing scenery in which both the car and it’s movement are one single entity. And although Lichtenstein’s comic art was already a thing of the past by then, his Art Car is clearly influenced by it: the long-drawn colored strips act as “speedlines” – a feature used in comics to suggest speed. Even the oversized dots used by Lichtenstein, the “Benday dots”, are reminiscent of his famous comic-strip pictures.
The harmony achieved between predetermined aerodynamic features and free composition is pure Lichtenstein. It is an expression of his artistic credo: art must be an element of everyday life – its themes and inspiration must come from the lives of ordinary people.
Background on the BMW Art Car Program
Roy Lichtenstein was the third artist to join the BMW Art Car Collection. He was followed by Andy Warhol, 1979; Ernst Fuchs, 1982; Robert Rauschenberg, 1986; Ken Done, 1989; Michael Jagamara Nelson, 1989; Matazo Kayama, 1990; Cesar Manrique, 1990; A.R. Penck, 1991; Esther Mahlangu, 1991; Sandro Chia, 1992 and David Hockney, 1995. Alexander Calder created the first Art Car in 1975 followed by Frank Stella in 1976.
The concept of the BMW Art Car was conceived in 1975, the year that French auctioneer and race driver Herve Poulain first entered Le Mans. Searching for a link between art and motorsports, he asked his friend Alexander Calder, to commission a rolling canvas on the BMW 3.0 CSL he would race.
The BMW 3 Series
BMW’s art cars have always been from the 3 Series range. Like other manufacturers, BMW has refined its engine technology to be more powerful, yet more fuel efficient and less polluting. It’s interesting to note different stages of like in an engine’s development and to track the progress through the years as new technology filters down from the top-of-the-line models.
Milestones in BMW 3 Series engine development:
While BMW has used model numbers beginning with 3 since for decades (see the pictures in the gallery of the 1939 335), the modern 3 Series began in 1975.
1975: World premiere of the BMW 3 Series featuring four four-cylinder engines.
1977: BMW 323i and BMW 320/6 — the first six-cylinder models in the BMW 3 Series.
1982: Presentation of the second generation of the BMW 3 Series.
1984: BMW 325e with a six-cylinder eta engine for particularly good fuel economy.
1985: Premiere of the BMW 324d, the first diesel-powered model in the BMW 3 Series.
1989: Introduction of four-valve technology to high volume production with the launch of the BMW 318is.
1990: Launch of the third generation of the BMW 3 Series.
1992: VANOS featured in the BMW M3 and six-cylinder versions of the BMW 3 Series Coupe.
1994: BMW 318tds with the first four-cylinder diesel engine in the BMW 3 Series.
1995: Six-cylinder petrol engines with aluminium crankcase.
1998: Launch of the fourth generation of the BMW 3 Series.
2000: Six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines each with a 3-litre cubic capacity.
2001: BMW presents throttle-free load control VALVETRONIC featured on the four-cylinder engine of the BMW 316ti compact.
2004: BMW 320Cd Convertible — the first open top BMW to feature a diesel engine.
2005: Presentation of the fifth generation of the BMW 3 Series, new six-cylinder petrol engines with a composite magnesium-aluminium crankcase.
2007: BMW 335i Coupe with Twin Turbo and High Precision Injection. Direct petrol injection for lean burn operation in the six-cylinder models BMW 330i and BMW 325i as well as the four-cylinder models BMW 320i and BMW 318i, four-cylinder diesel with aluminium crankcase and third-generation Common-Rail Injection.
2008: Five models from the BMW 3 Series with a CO2 emission level of between 123 and 131 grams per km.
Progress in figures:
1985: BMW 324d, six-cylinder diesel, 63 kW/86 bhp, 6.9 litres/100 km (average in an EU test cycle).
2008: BMW 335d, six-cylinder diesel, 210 kW/286 bhp, 6.7 litres/100 km.
1994: BMW 318tds, four-cylinder diesel, 66 kW/90 bhp, 5.9 litres/100 km.
2008: BMW 318d, four-cylinder diesel, 105 kW/143 bhp, 4.7 litres/100 km.
1978: BMW 323i, six-cylinder petrol engine, 105 kW/143 bhp, 7.9 litres/100 km (measured at a constant speed of 100 km/h).
2008: BMW 330i, six-cylinder petrol engine, 200 kW/272 bhp, 7.2 litres/100 km.
1985: BMW 325e, six-cylinder petrol engine, 90 kW/122 bhp, 8.4 litres/100 km.
2008: BMW 330i, six-cylinder petrol engine, 200 kW/272 bhp, 7.2 litres/100 km.
2001: BMW 316ti compact, four-cylinder petrol engine with VALVETRONIC, 85 kW/115 bhp, 6.9 litres/100 km.
2008: BMW 318i, four-cylinder petrol engine with High Precision Injection, 105 kW/143 bhp, 5.9 litres/100 km.
