The art of miniatures: The BMW Art Car Collection in miniature

Munich. The BMW Art Car Collection is a unique compendium of art. Since
1975, some of the most important artists of the century have been
lending their own individual artistic style to the design of BMW racing
cars. A reflection of contemporary culture - as typical as they are
unique. Every car is a masterpiece in itself, and these BMW Art Cars
are now available as miniatures. The idea for the BMW Art Cars was
born in 1975, when the auctioneer and racing driver of the 24-hour race
at Le Mans, Hervé Poulain, was looking for a link between art
and motor racing. He had his BMW 3.0 CSL designed as a piece of art by
his friend, the American artist Alexander Calder. Since then, the Art
Car Collection has grown to include 15 cars. Magic moments for art
fans and collectors The BMW Art Car Collection of miniatures begins with
four exceptional cars: the first - the BMW 3.0 CSL - was the first Art
car ever, designed in 1975 by Alexander Calder. He painted the BMW in
powerful colours and with sleek surfaces. The second Art Car miniature
is the BMW M1 Group 4, which the world-famous pop artist Andy Warhol
saw as a moving art object right from the start and designed it as
such. Warhol stated: "I love the car, it's better than the
painting", and this is why Andy Warhol painted the actual car
himself. This spontaneous and direct approach expresses Warhol's
personal style perfectly. The BMW racing car, the M3 GTR, painted by
Italian artist Sandro Chia in 1992, is itself a work of art in
miniature. The faces and graffiti elements that are typical of Chia are
portrayed brilliantly on the smaller model, and their power of
expression is brought to the fore. The youngest Art Car is the BMW V
12 Le Mans roadster, which Jenny Holzer designed in 1999 with
penstrokes and six short texts. Her Art Car concept is based on
traditional colours and materials from the world of racing sport, such
as chrome. The miniature version of the BMW Roadster also uses these
materials. All Art Car miniatures are available in a scale of 1:18,
boasting a wealth of details and a level of manufacturing precision
that matches the originals. Specific attention has been paid when
creating the miniatures to include every artistic aspect of the
originals, in order to create perfect pieces of art in miniature too.
The Art Car miniatures are now appearing in the BMW Art Car Museum
Edition. Initially, only 3,000 copies will be made with a recommended
retail price of Euro 119 per miniature, although this number will not
be limited. By 2005, miniature versions of all 15 original BMW Art Cars
will be available from BMW dealers and selected museum shops worldwide.
The BMW Art Car miniatures by Alexander Calder and Jenny Holzer are
already available now, while the Andy Warhol and Sandro Chia models
will go on sale in mid-June 2003. The BMW Art Car miniatures are also
available on the Internet at: www.bmw-shop.com/lifestyle.