And now, a late update: A Lettuce Slaughter in the Woods

Before the insanity of Waterfest took over last week I had promised a few more pictures of Josh's art opening here in NYC. The passion for the VW is well known by those who are friends with Josh, and as such the curator of the show, who consequently painted on / over / around the pieces in the show, specifically requested a photo from Josh featuring some element of this culture.



The show, A Lettuce Slaughter in the Woods, was orginized by Dave Miko, and is at Real Fine Arts, on Meeker in Brooklyn.



The show closes in 18 days so you don't have a ton of time to go check it out, but if you do, look for the shaved bay Mk1, now officially a part of the NYC art world.

_WRS

Jeff Koons' BMW Art car = Awesome

I've never hid my affection for the BMW Art Cars of the late 70s and early 80s, they are in a word, awesome. After a few rather dull and (in my opinion anyways) uninspired examples in the 90s and 00s, BMW and Jeff Koons have righted all wrongs of the recent past.



For those that follow or are 'into' art, you already know that Koons is a weird guy. He was married to a porn star for a while and has a rather interesting collection of work. The man has some original ideas, that is for sure. I think perhaps what is most interesting is that he had contacted BMW all the way back in 2003 about doing an art car, which means he is also extremely cool. (anyone who actively seeks out the completion of a BMW Art car is by default, extremely cool no matter what else they are.)



The car looks fantastic, if a shockingly similar to something I did on that Toyota 'Sponsifier' website a few months ago. (pure coincidence I'm sure) I'm a little disappointed that it is vinyl wrapped rather than painted, which is supposedly lighter than paint, and time was a factor for completion so BMW made that call.



The E92 GT2 M3 will not have an easy victory in class at Le Mans this year, but it will have as good a shot as any others, and could pull off a feat that no other BMW Art Car has done: victory at Le Mans. They have gotten excruciatingly close with the Roy Lichtenstein 320i Turbo and the Andy Warhol M1 both placing on the podiums, but never a victory. 2010 could be the year, I sure hope so.

More at BMW Motorsport.

_WRS

Pic post: (A recommendation)

So I've been dipping into the old-school sports car stuff pretty hard lately. With big things happening in the ALMS, I've been reflecting back on the past as a way to look towards the future, and next season..if that makes any sense. Does it? Maybe not. Anyway, google is our friend in all these things, and it seems like more and more great stuff can turn up with each search. It boggles the mind to think none of this content, or at least very little of it, would have ever seen the light of day had the internet not become as easy and accessible as it is.

For those who have either been reading for a while, or have been kind enough to check the back catalog here at Der Wolfsburg Rennsport, you may recall when we visited the BMW Art Cars while they were here in NYC. I've looked for video of those cars, pictures in action at Le Mans, all that stuff, and it's usually hard to find decent ones. They are out there, but not as easy to find as you might think. Well thanks to JCC Photos we have those images. Now...I would post them up, but I can't link to them (all rights reserved and all that) and well, I don't blame the guy. He has some pretty amazing shots, pretty much all the the 24 hours of Le Mans. So go check em out, I can't say I've ever seen such a complete collection anywhere else...

JCC Photos Le Mans Collection

_WRS

The first desktop image from WRS, BWM Art Car 320i

In honor of Le Mans, I'm posting up two large, desktop-friendly images from the BMW Art Car post. My favorite, the Roy Lichtenstein Group 5 320i. Finished second in class in 1977. So download and enjoy! I hope to bringing some better, more professional desktop images in the future, but until Josh gets back from Europe this will have to do.

Download the high resolution file 1 here!

Enjoy your weekend...

_WRS

Download the high resolution file 2 here!

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