BMW's mobile canvasses notch up 40 years

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the first BMW Art Car to hit the road – or the track, actually.

Back in 1975 renowned American sculptor Alexander Calder was commissioned to paint a one-off BMW 3.0 CSL that was subsequently entered in that year's Le Mans endurance race.

Calder himself may have inspired the BMW project, after painting a DC-8 airliner for Braniff Airways in 1972.

Since then, the on-going BMW Art Cars programme has grown steadily in stature and scope. Frank Stella painted another CSL in what looked like form-fitting graph paper the following year, before pop art exponents Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol took the reins for two striking M3s in 1977 and 79.

Two of the cars – E30-generation M3s once more – were painted by local artists Michael Nelson Tjakamarra and Ken Done in time for the Art Cars' first exhibition in Australia, at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum in 1989. Both 'Aussie' BMWs remain an important part of the fleet.

"The BMW Art Cars provide an exciting landmark at the interface where cars, technology, design, art and motor sport meet," says Maximilian Schöberl, Senior Vice President for Corporate and Governmental Affairs, BMW Group.

"The 40-year history of our 'rolling sculptures' is as unique as the artists who created them. The BMW Art Cars are an essential element and core characteristic of our global cultural engagement."

Unfortunately for the man who began it all, Alexander Calder passed away near the end of 1976 – around 18 months after completing work on that first CSL.