HAutos

17th BMW Art Car to Run Le Mans

Over the last 35 years, BMW has commissioned 17 extraordinary cars to serve as the canvas for contemporary artists, almost all of which campaigned at the annual 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. Notable artists to participate in the program include Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, and David Hockney. The latest creation was unveiled by pop artist Jeff Koons at a presentation on June 2 at the Centre Pompidou museum in Paris. The Koons car, a 500-horsepower M3 GT2 whose 4.0 liter V-8 reportedly rockets the car to 62 mph in 3.4 seconds, is no exception and will wear number 79 when the famed French race is held on June 12 to 13. The number pays homage to the fourth-ever Art Car, an M1 decorated by Andy Warhol that competed at Le Mans in 1979.

“These race cars are like life, they are powerful and there is a lot of energy,” Koons said when he revealed his initial sketches for the car. “You can participate with it, add to it, and let yourself transcend with its energy. There is a lot of power under that hood and I want to let my ideas transcend with the car—it’s really to connect with that power.”

Following its campaign at Le Mans, the Koons Art Car will be displayed alongside its predecessors at the BMW Museum in Munich.

Custom Ferrari One-Off Comes To America

Concorso Italiano’s organizers recently announced that SP1, the first authentic, factory-sanctioned, one-off custom job care of Ferrari’s Special Projects division, will make its North American debut at the annual event at the Laguna Seca Golf Ranch in Monterey, California.

In 1998, noted Japanese Ferrari collector Junichiro Hiramatsu saw a concept car called the F100 penned by former Pininfarina designer Leonardo Fioravanti to commemorate the 100th birthday of Enzo Ferrari. The ensuing dialog between Hiramatsu, Ferrari, and Fioravanti led to the commissioning of a one-off based on the F430 chassis and power train. It was formally presented in September 2008 as the inaugural car of the Special Projects division. Visually rooted in the F430, the SP1 offers new cosmetic cues such as sweeping door scallops and rear haunch intakes, a wraparound carbon fiber undercarriage, and revised treatments for the canopy and rear fascia.

Since the time that Hiramatsu took delivery of his SP1, only one other Ferrari Special Project car has appeared, a 599 GTB Fiorano-based vehicle called the P540 Superfast Aperta that was first publicly presented at last January’s Cavallino Classic in Palm Beach. No word yet on when we can expect a third installment, but clearly these are extremely desirable cars whose long term-value and collectability will skyrocket given their rarity and provenance as official Ferrari-issued and sanctioned customizations.

Haute Superhero

When America’s most haute superhero reappeared across movie screens late April, his travel wasn’t confined to the armored flying suit that earned him the title of Iron Man. Sometimes Robert Downey Jr.’s fictitious Tony Stark prefers to drive, and with his collection of automobiles, who could blame him. Picture car coordinator John Armstrong had to mull every automobile used in the film, carefully preparing a pool of possibilities from which the final selection was made.

As in the original Iron Man, Marvel entered a deal with Audi that provides each company with a series of cross-marketing opportunities and guarantees. (If you turned on your television even once during the month of May, you probably saw an Audi commercial that begins in the guise of an Iron Man 2 ad.) Though exact details remain confidential, it’s likely that Audi footed much of this cross-marketing bill in exchange for certain guarantees of product placement in the film. Put it this way: you won’t see Tony Stark behind the wheel of any car that doesn’t have four rings on the hood. As TV ads have since amply clarified, that sleek two-door convertible he jets around in is the new Audi R8 Spyder. During filming, the car was so new that it was one of only two prototypes yet in existence.

Further conside-ration was required for Tony Stark’s workshop, which doubles as a garage littered with beautiful automotive set pieces. In the new film, Tony’s garage is bookended with the R8 Spyder and a neat little billionaire’s toy called an ICON A5, an amphibious, retractable-wing, two-seat aircraft that can be towed behind a car like a boat. In between those is director Jon Favreau’s flame-painted Deuce roadster, a 1932 Ford hot rod. Just before shooting was scheduled to begin, the producers let Armstrong know he had three days to come up with a couple more scintillating cars for the Stark garage. Cashing in a favor from the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, Armstrong raided its collection and came up with a customized 1949 Mercury and a 1953 Cadillac 62 with a Ghia body. This was the first time the Petersen Museum ever lent out a car for film shoot purposes, and because the museum is a non-profit, it took some creative thinking to come up with a form of compensation. Leave it to Armstrong’s sense of conservation to provide an answer. While cutting up two Rolls-Royce Phantoms that were scheduled to be cinematically destroyed by Mickey Rourke’s bad guy Whiplash, Armstrong realized that the unique 6.7 liter V-12 Phantom engine might be an enticing form of barter to the Petersen, and it wouldn’t require any extra investment from Marvel. Armstrong conferred with contacts at Rolls, Marvel, and the museum, and all parties agreed that the “donation” of the engine would be a mutually beneficial and cost-effective solution.

See more HAuto coverage at
www.HauteLiving.com, including:

» Aston Martin Garage Sale

» Milestone Sale of a Coveted Bugatti

» Mullin Automotive Museum

» Gran Turismo Omologato

» Greystone Concours d’Elegance

» Tesla and TAG Heuer’s Odyssey of Pioneers