BMW M Hybrid V8 as a work of art
WORLD PREMIERE The BMW M Hybrid V8 racing car by artist Julie Mehretu was presented as the 20th BMW Art Car at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The enormously performative work of art will compete in the 24-hour race at Le Mans in mid-June.
The 20th BMW Art Car was presented to the public for the first time at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The vehicle, designed by New York painter Julie Mehretu, is the BMW M Hybrid V8 endurance prototype, which now continues a long racing tradition of the BMW Art Car Collection. Just a few weeks after its world premiere in Paris, it will be competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. "My Art Car was created in close collaboration with motorsport and engineering teams, and it will only be finished when the race at Le Mans is over," said Julie Mehretu. The collaboration between BMW and Julie Mehretu also includes a joint commitment to the Pan African Translocal Media Workshops for filmmakers, which will take place in various African cities in 2025 and 2026.
Technology and art
Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, commented: "The BMW Art Cars are an essential part of our global cultural commitment. For almost 50 years, we have been cooperating with artists who are just as fascinated by mobility and design as they are by technology and motorsport. Julie Mehretu's art on a racing car is a strong contribution to our BMW Art Cars series." Space, movement and energy have always been central motifs in Mehretu's work. For the design of the 20th BMW Art Car, she transferred a two-dimensional image motif into a three-dimensional representation for the first time, with which she succeeded in bringing dynamism into form.
The BMW M Hybrid V8
The new BMW M Hybrid V8 model for endurance racing has a hybrid drive system with around 640 hp, whose 4-liter V8 engine is supported by an electric motor. This enables the 4.99 meter long, 1.20 meter high and only 1030 kilogram prototype to reach a top speed of up to 345 km/h, depending on the race track layout. The fusion of image and vehicle was realized with the help of 3D mapping, with which the motif was transferred to the contours of the vehicle, as well as elaborate foiling, which makes it possible to use the car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. BMW works drivers Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns and René Rast will enter the Art Car with starting number 20 at the Circuit de la Sarthe on June 15.
