Warhol and Mehretu BMW Art Cars Begin North American Tour

BMW Art Cars by Andy Warhol and Julie Mehretu debut in North America at Pebble Beach, marking the 50th anniversary of the iconic collection’s world tour.

In the 50th anniversary year of the BMW Art Car Collection, North America is set to witness a rare double appearance of two iconic “rolling canvases” by American artists. In August 2025, at the legendary Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance—the flagship event of Monterey Car Week—the BMW M1 Group 4 by Andy Warhol and the BMW M Hybrid V8 by Julie Mehretu will be shown together. This joint display marks the opening of the North American leg of the anniversary world tour, which has already passed through Vienna, Hong Kong, Dubai, the Swedish town of Båstad, and other cities.

Warhol’s Art Car is a true legend. In 1979, he hand-painted the M1 designed by Giorgio Giugiaro, completing the work in just 28 minutes. His bold, gestural brushstrokes aimed to capture the sensation of speed, and the car went on to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, taking second place in its class. Mehretu unveiled her hybrid M Hybrid V8 in May 2024 at the Centre Pompidou, and a month later it raced at Le Mans. Her creation, the 20th in the Art Car Collection, is based on her monumental painting “Everywhen” and incorporates 3D mapping, layered photography, and her signature gestural marks. In March 2025, the car made a notable appearance at Art Basel Hong Kong, where it was displayed alongside miniatures of all 20 BMW Art Cars.

The project is linked to the African Film and Media Arts Collective, which supports emerging film and media artists across Africa. After Pebble Beach, the cars will part ways. Mehretu’s machine will head to The Bridge—an exclusive event in Bridgehampton, New York—where on September 13, 2025, it will be shown alongside a McLaren Artura GT4 designed by American artist Mickalene Thomas for the Driven Artists Racing Team. The event will also feature an art talk with both artists, entrepreneur Zoë Barry, and BMW’s Global Head of Cultural Engagement, Thomas Girst. Warhol’s M1 will travel to Washington, D.C., for a presentation at the Hirshhorn Museum on the National Mall.

The BMW Art Car story began in 1975, when French racing driver and art dealer Hervé Poulain invited artist Alexander Calder to paint a BMW 3.0 CSL for the Le Mans race. Since then, the collection has grown to 20 unique vehicles created by world-class artists—from Roy Lichtenstein to Jeff Koons. One of the standout moments of the anniversary tour took place in June at the Aurora 2025 festival in Båstad, where works by Calder, Lichtenstein, Warhol, and Koons were displayed in an open-air setting. Today, the collection stands as a living archive of how art and engineering can combine to create not just transport, but mobile sculptures.