Those Krauts! The art of automobiles

0-15 minutes of fame isn't quite what Warhol famously said back in the 80s, but my interpretation is fueled (ok, no more puns) by the current exhibition at Los Angeles' County Museum of Art, more affectionately known as LACMA.

The exhibition of BMW Art Cars is only on display for 12 days before heading off to New York and Mexico. The four cars, rarely seen outside of BMW's Munich museum in Germany, are designed by Roy Lichtenstein (1977 Group 5 320i with its wild wing and body work), Robert Rauschenberg (1986 6-series was not a race car so seems more restrained than the other Art Cars), Frank Stella (graph-paper 3.0 CSL), and Andy Warhol (1979 Group 4 M1 that Warhol painted with a brush). All three race cars competed at Le Mans with their new paint jobs.

As part of the exhibition are rare, behind-the-scenes footage of the four cars including a youthful-looking Warhol working on his BMW and Robert Rauschenberg sharing his inspiration and influence.


BMW Art Car By Andy Warhol

Who got the keys to my Bimmer? Not shown on this tour are the most recent additions to the BMW Art Car program which currently has 16 cars including David Hockney (1995), Jenny Holzer (1999), and Olafur Eliasson (2007) who was the man behind the controversial waterfalls installation in New York in 2008.

Surprisingly, the BMW Art Car Project was originally dreamt up in the 1970s by a Frenchman. Hervé Poulain was a racing driver who in 1975 commissioned American artist Alexander Calder to paint his BMW racing car. Since then both racing and production BMWs have been given the priceless touch by leading artists of their generation, all chosen by an international panel.

Go test drive now BMW Art Cars can be seen on display at the L.A. County Museum of Art BP Grand Entrance through February 24, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., (323) 857-6151.

Hancock and my BMW 2002

Weekend titbit. Wow, I watched Hancock (Will Smith's new film) this weekend and it was amazing! Not just because a blue version of my BMW 2002 featured prominently as the PR man's ride. Nice one!

The Ludacris and Mark The 45 King opening soundtrack was fuel-injected. And Charlize Theron didn't look too shabby either?!

It's gone to a good home...

It was a sad, sad day. My Verona red 1975 BMW 2002 had to go to an vintage car home where it could be loved, instead of upstaged by my Audi TT.

I got up early on this Columbus Day off and drove 40 miles to Pomona. It's in the middle of bumble-fuck nowhere. Well, it's on the way to San Bernadino. Hate it! On the drive there were familiar landmarks: Alhambra, West Covina...and then it was all a blur.



BMW Classics Apart from the oasis that is the 2002ad workshop, I have to say Pomona is tres depressing - even in the sunshine there was just not character, or signs of any culture. I couldn't wait to get on the bus to downtown LA.

Silver Surfer And the bus is sooo modern it's called the 'Silver Streak' - it's a double-bus caravan with all mod-cons. I slept most of the way and then jumped on another bus to my 'hood simply by calling '1-800-Commute' to find the bus. That Metro bus had GPS maps on the screen so you wouldn't miss your stop! Craaaazy! Love it!