BMW Art Cars Star at 2025 Goodwood Revival
The 2025 Goodwood Revival, taking place from September 12 to 14, will feature five rolling sculptures from the legendary BMW Art Car series. Visitors will explore highlights from the BMW Art Car Collection, which has evolved over 50 years and includes works by renowned artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons and David Hockney.
Since 1975, the BMW Group has invited artists to experiment with automobiles through the BMW Art Cars, combining art, design, technology, innovation, racing, and engineering. The 20 BMW Art Cars now anchor a global cultural programme with over a hundred initiatives across contemporary art, music, film and design. For almost 140 years, since the invention of the automobile, artists worldwide have engaged with the car in both critical and euphoric ways.
The Goodwood Revival exhibition forms part of the ongoing BMW Art Car World Tour, which marks the collection’s 50th anniversary by presenting the BMW Art Cars across leading art and automotive platforms worldwide. Five celebrated cars will make a special stop at the Revival.
In 1976, Frank Stella reimagined the BMW 3.0 CSL, the second car in the collection and a machine known for its 24 Hours of Le Mans pedigree. He drew inspiration from the car’s technical foundations to create a bold composition of black and white lines, placing the powerful 750 hp engine front and centre in the concept.
In 1977, pop artist Roy Lichtenstein applied his recognisable “Ben Day dots” to a BMW 320i Turbo. The original car, which also raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, was driven by collection founder Hervé Poulain and Marcel Mignot, linking contemporary art with endurance racing.
By 1982, Austrian artist Ernst Fuchs designed the BMW 635 CSi, also known as the “Fire Fox on a Hare Hunt”. As the fifth entry in the series, it became the first BMW Art Car based on a production model, signalling a shift from his earlier artworks while retaining a vivid, narrative approach.
In 1995, David Hockney created the 14th BMW Art Car, the BMW 850 CSi. Through an extended design project, he set out to reveal the car’s inner workings and spirit. His detailed paintwork includes the outline of a driver on the door, and attentive viewers will notice a stylised suction vent on the button, subtle touches that reward a closer look.
In 2010, American artist Jeff Koons unveiled the BMW M3 GT2, the 17th BMW Art Car. He introduced a dynamic palette of vibrant, contrasting colours and revived Pop Art energy to capture power and motion, conveying speed and excitement even when the car stands still.
Across the Goodwood Revival weekend, Earls Court will display this unique selection as part of the collection’s world tour, giving festival-goers a rare chance to experience the BMW Art Cars up close within the atmosphere of Goodwood Revival 2025.
