BMW Art Cars at Goodwood Revival 2025: 50 years of rolling art

Five iconic BMW Art Cars, including works by Hockney, Lichtenstein and Koons, will be showcased at Goodwood Revival 2025 as part of the 50th anniversary world tour.

In September, the spotlight at the Goodwood Revival 2025 in Sussex will fall not only on legendary races and vintage costumes. This year’s edition will host five remarkable cars from the BMW Art Car Collection, celebrating its 50th anniversary. These “rolling sculptures” will be displayed as part of the Earls Court Motor Show and form another stop on the global Art Car World Tour, which has already reached Vienna, Hong Kong, and other cities.

The BMW Art Car project began in 1975 when Alexander Calder painted a BMW 3.0 CSL for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Since then, the initiative has brought together twenty artists, including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons, David Hockney, and Esther Mahlangu. Their works turned automobiles into canvases—ranging from minimalist line structures to vibrant compositions that highlight speed and power.

At Goodwood Revival, five highlights of the collection will be on display:

• BMW 3.0 CSL (1976) by Frank Stella, a geometric pattern inspired by the car’s engineering and its racing pedigree.
• BMW 320i Turbo (1977) by Roy Lichtenstein, covered with his signature Ben Day dots and sweeping lines that visualize motion.
• BMW 635 CSi (1982) by Austrian artist Ernst Fuchs, known as “Fire Fox on a Hare Hunt,” the first Art Car based on a production vehicle.
• BMW 850 CSi (1995) by David Hockney, featuring a painted driver silhouette and stylized air vent details.
• BMW M3 GT2 (2010) by Jeff Koons, an explosion of color and energy that conveys speed even when standing still.

Each of these cars tells its own story—whether through competition at Le Mans or through the unique artistic vision behind its design. Together they embody the core role of Art Cars in BMW’s cultural strategy: merging engineering with creativity and showing that a car can serve not only as transport but also as a canvas for artistic expression.

Goodwood Revival, renowned for reviving the golden age of motorsport and its immersive retro atmosphere, provides the perfect backdrop. The event regularly draws more than 150,000 visitors from around the world, eager for both the races and the opportunity to step back into the style of the 1940s–1960s. This year, the Art Cars promise to add a new dimension, connecting automotive culture with half a century of modern art history.

The world tour will continue across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, bringing the Art Cars to major museums and art platforms. As the collection travels, it is expected to spark further debate on how far the intersection of art and technology can be pushed.