This September, the Goodwood Revival will look a little more like the Tate Modern than a racetrack. From September 12–14, the Earls Court Motor Show will play host to five of BMW’s legendary Art Cars—rolling sculptures that have been blurring the lines between speed and creativity for half a century.
Since 1975, the Bavarians have handed over some of their most iconic metal to artists like Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons, and David Hockney, asking them not for horsepower or lap times, but for art. The result? Twenty wildly different interpretations of what happens when you let imagination loose on a chassis. Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, the BMW Art Car Collection is on a global tour, and Goodwood Revival is its latest stop.
The Five Stars of Goodwood
1976 | Frank Stella’s BMW 3.0 CSL
Known as the “Batmobile” in racing circles, the 3.0 CSL was already legendary before Frank Stella got his hands on it. He covered its body in a stark grid of black-and-white lines—part blueprint, part hallucination—that echoed the mechanical soul beneath. With a 750-hp engine and Le Mans credentials, it was less canvas, more predator.
1977 | Roy Lichtenstein’s BMW 320i Turbo
Pop Art exploded onto the grid a year later when Roy Lichtenstein applied his signature Ben Day dots and comic-strip lines to the 320i Turbo. The car itself raced at Le Mans with Hervé Poulain—the man who dreamed up the Art Car concept—behind the wheel. For Lichtenstein, it wasn’t just a livery, it was a narrative: the painted horizon lines suggesting speed itself.
1982 | Ernst Fuchs’ BMW 635 CSi
Dubbed Fire Fox on a Hare Hunt, Ernst Fuchs’ 635 CSi was the first Art Car to start from a production vehicle rather than a race-bred machine. Its surreal imagery—flaming, mystical, almost gothic—was a departure from the pop stylings of earlier works. Fuchs made the everyday 6 Series into something mythological.
1995 | David Hockney’s BMW 850 CSi
When David Hockney turned the 850 CSi into a canvas, he decided to peel back the skin. Painted outlines reveal what lies beneath—engine parts, a driver silhouette, even a stylized vent. It’s not so much decoration as X-ray art, an invitation to look deeper into a grand touring coupe that was already complex.
2010 | Jeff Koons’ BMW M3 GT2
The most recent of the five, Jeff Koons’ M3 GT2 is a burst of energy frozen in lacquer. With vibrant streaks of color exploding across its body, the car looks as if it’s breaking the sound barrier even while parked. Built to compete at Le Mans, it embodies Koons’ knack for spectacle—unapologetically loud and kinetic.
Why It Matters
The Goodwood Revival is normally about tweed caps, pre-war racers, and nostalgia-fueled paddocks. Dropping five vividly painted BMWs into the mix sounds almost sacrilegious—but that’s the point. These Art Cars remind us that automobiles are more than transportation or even engineering marvels. They are cultural artifacts, blank canvases onto which an era projects its obsessions.
BMW’s collection, spanning from the analog growl of the 1970s to the digital optimism of the 2010s, tells a story of how art and technology have danced together over the decades. For Goodwood’s vintage crowd, it’s a reminder that speed has always been about more than lap times—it’s about expression.
This year, then, the Revival won’t just echo with the sound of carburetors and straight-sixes. It’ll pulse with color, dots, grids, flames, outlines, and streaks. For a few days in September, Goodwood will prove that sometimes, the most powerful thing a car can do is stand still and make you feel something.
Source: BMW
