BMW reveals M3 GT2-based Art Car

This brightly coloured beast is BMW’s latest Art Car, and the company's entry into this year’s Le Mans 24hrs. Based on the M3 GT2, the 17th Art Car has been designed by Jeff Koons and was unveiled last night at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

BMW might not need such help – the M3 GT2 has already picked up a first place at this year’s Nurburgring 24hrs.

As for the car itself, Koons first expressed an interest to create a BMW Art Car in 2003, but only in 2010 has he got his chance. ‘These race cars are like life, they are powerful and there is a lot of energy,’ said Koons. ‘You can participate with it, add to it and let yourself transcend with its energy. There is a lot of power under that hood and I want to let my ideas transcend with the car – it’s really to connect with that power’.

Before actually applying the vibrant colours to BMW’s M3 racer, Koons created the design using CAD software to make sure it could be successfully applied to all the car’s intricate surfaces. In the end, the design was printed onto a vinyl, which was then used to wrap the M3, before a couple of layers of clear coat were used to bring out the colours. And yes, the same process has been carried out on a bunch of spare bits of bodywork so if the car does get damaged at La Sarthe, it won’t be racing around with mix ‘n’ match styling.

Beyond the hundreds of lines of colour, Koons has also added graphics of debris to the back and sides of the M3 GT2 to simulate its power, and two rings on the rear end that ‘represent supersonic acceleration’.

The M3 GT2 is dynamically unchanged though, and features a 500bhp 4.0-litre V8. Brit Andy Priaulx, along with Dirk Müller and Dirk Werner, will race the BMW Art Car (number 79) on 12-13 June 2010 at Le Mans.

By Ben Pulman