BMW Art Cars at Grand Central Terminal

Four of the famous BMW Art Cars are on exhibit at Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan right now. The cars on display are: Frank Stella's 3.0 CSL (1976), Roy Lichtenstein's 320i (1977), Andy Warhol's M1 (1979), and Robert Rauschenberg's 635 CSi (1986). Conspicuously absent is Alexander Calder's 3.0 CSL, the car that started it all in 1975.

When asked by the New Yorker if these cars were art, Frank Stella told Calvin Tomkins that “It depends on who you ask.” From the New Yorker:

“The design is made by an artist, so it’s art.” He declined to comment on the other art cars. “Let’s just say I liked the earlier ones,” he offered, “because they weren’t about being an art item.” Most of the later cars, beginning with Ernst Fuchs’s, in 1982, were production models, not made for the track. “It’s the racing part that’s interesting,” Stella said. “That car I did was a nice introduction to racing, and a relief from the art world.”

Roy Lichtenstein:


Andy Warhol:


Robert Rauschenberg:


Frank Stella: