Article Summary
- Alexander Calder’s BMW 3.0 CSL — the car that started the entire Art Car program in 1975 — is on free public display at Hotel Caro, Bucharest through May 15.
- The series has since grown to 20 cars, with artists including Warhol, Hockney, Koons, and most recently Julie Mehretu, whose M Hybrid V8 was the fastest Art Car ever at Le Mans.
- Romania has a deeper connection to the BMW Art Car story than most realize — Calder admired Brâncuși’s work, and Ileana Sonnabend, the gallerist who helped select early Art Car artists, was born in Bucharest.
Fifty years ago, Hervé Poulain had a fairly simple idea: convince an artist to paint his race car, then take it to Le Mans. The car was a BMW 3.0 CSL. The artist was Alexander Calder. The race lasted nine hours before the car retired. And somehow, that failed Le Mans attempt became one of the most durable projects in automotive history. The BMW Art Car collection turns 50 this year. To mark it, BMW has been sending the cars around the world — and the World Tour just made its first-ever stop in Romania. The Calder 3.0 CSL is currently on display at Hotel Caro in Bucharest, through May 15, free to visit. It’s the first time any BMW Art Car has officially been shown in the country.
A Failed Le Mans Finish That Launched 50 Years of Art Cars
Poulain organized art auctions for a living and wanted to race at Le Mans. Calder was 77, American, and already famous for his mobiles — sculptures that moved. Poulain tracked him down, made the pitch, and Calder painted the 3.0 CSL in primary colors with no apparent concern for subtlety. BMW, which had pulled back from European motorsport during the oil crisis, saw something in the project and assembled a team: Sam Posey and Jean Guichet as co-drivers, the 3.0 CSL as the platform.
Calder’s instructions to Poulain before the race were simple: Win. But drive carefully.” They didn’t win. The car was running fifth when it stopped in hour nine. But nobody really remembers that part.
From Warhol to Julie Mehretu: 20 Artists, One Continuing Series
BMW kept going. Through the same gallery network — Leo Castelli and his wife Ileana, who was born in Bucharest and later became one of the most important gallerists in the world as Ileana Sonnabend — the next three Art Cars came from Frank Stella (1976), Roy Lichtenstein (1977), and Andy Warhol (1979). Since then, 20 artists have taken on the project. The list covers a lot of ground: David Hockney, Robert Rauschenberg, Jenny Holzer, Olafur Eliasson, Jeff Koons, Esther Mahlangu, John Baldessari, Cao Fei. The most recent is Julie Mehretu’s BMW M Hybrid V8, which raced at Le Mans last year as the fastest Art Car the program has ever put on track.
Some of the cars have been gallery pieces. Others actually raced. The Koons M3 GT2, the Baldessari M6 GTLM, the Cao Fei M6 GT3 — all competed. The connection to motorsport, which started as a practical necessity in 1975, became a recurring feature.
Calder Admired Brâncuși, and Ileana Sonnabend Was Born in Bucharest
There’s a thread connecting the BMW Art Car to Romania that most people don’t know about. Calder, in the years before he took on the project, had visited Brâncuși‘s studio in Paris multiple times. He called it “wonderful” and admired the simplicity of the work. Fernand Léger had been comparing the two artists since the 1930s. The Calder 3.0 CSL, in its own way, is in conversation with Brâncuși — bright color added to something built around reduction and movement. Then there’s Ileana Sonnabend. Born Ileana Schapira in Bucharest, she and her then-husband Leo Castelli ran the gallery that helped BMW choose Stella, Lichtenstein, and Warhol. Without her, the Art Car series looks very different.
The BMW 3.0 CSL: BMW Motorsport’s First Car, and Still One of Its Best-Looking
The 3.0 CSL already had a reputation before Calder touched it. BMW called it the “Batmobile” — the aero kit it wore in competition was aggressive enough that it barely looked production-derived. It was the first car out of BMW Motorsport’s newly formed racing division, built to win GT competition across Europe. Calder’s version — loud, primary, unapologetically cheerful — ended up being the most recognizable car from Le Mans 1975. Which is strange, given it didn’t finish.
Free to Visit in Bucharest Until May 15
The exhibition runs at Hotel Caro, Bucharest through May 15. Entry is free. BMW Romania is running guided tours through their social media channels if you want more context — though standing in front of it is probably a good start.
[Photos: Ciprian Mihai/ BMW Romania]