BMW Art Cars at Grand Central Terminal

I really wasn't sure what to expect when I went to see the BMW art cars at Grand Central Terminal. I knew they were BMWs. I knew they were handed over to famous artists for the design / paint / etc, but didn't know much else. I was surprised, pleasantly, that BMW would basically hand over brand new race cars for the purpose. And then they raced them. At Le Mans! The whole thing started back in 1975, and since then BMW has commissioned 16 more. Not all are racers, but a number of them are.

I was really happy to get a chance to see these up close and in person on their North American tour. These are not the sort of thing that come around every year, and NYC is one of only two stops inside the USA. They are not only priceless works of art, but they also have racing provenance. Amazing. Not one but three cars which raced at Le Mans in the 70's were close enough to touch, and in the middle of Grand Central Terminal in New York City.
My favorite by far is the Group 5 320 by Roy Lichtenstein. The car is my style...obviously based around a street car, but fully built up for competition use in the loosely defined Group 5 class. The little 2000cc turbo 4-cylinder made up to 600 horsepower and topped out at 160mph+, so obviously it didn't have anything on the all-conquering Porsche 935s of the era, but it managed 2nd in class and 9th overall in the 1977 event. There are atmospheric versions making upwards of 300hp, but it wasn't clear which this was, and inside info is a bit spotty. The display signs said 300hp turbo, but then they also said 1st in class at LeMans, which is incorrect, so it's either one or the other, and if it came in second behind a monster 935 I'm guessing it has the 600hp turbo unit under the bonnet.

Sadly they are being packed up tomorrow to head to Mexico City, but I took a decent number of pictures. You can check out all of them in my Flickr set. I'll be heading back tomorrow for a second look, and to take a few snaps that I may have missed.

_WRS