Australian Ken Done wanted to incorporate elements from his homeland into his M3 project. For that, he was inspired by the exotic colors of paint parrots and parrot fish. For Done, these animals in particular share the M3’s beauty and speed. As a result, Done’s art car design looks tropical and organic.

Then there’s the most famous art car, the Warhol M1. Andy Warhol, who celebrated mass-produced goods in his paintings of Campbell soup cans, is a natural choice for the art cars project. After all, the automobile is the ultimate manufactured product. And the M1 is, in many ways, the ultimate BMW.

The circa-1978 M1 is first and only mid-engined BMW supercar, built as a homologation special for sports car racing. Guigiaro designed the bodywork. The M1 used a 3.5 liter inline-6, with 470 bhp, and it was capable of up to 850 bhp in later turbocharged versions. BMW originally commissioned Lamborghini to engineer the car’s chassis and manufacture the vehicles, but Lamborghini’s financial difficulties caused BMW to reassume control of the project. The car was later hand-built by the M division, and only 456 production M1s were built, making it one of the rarest BMW models.

Andy Warhol followed a different process for his art car. The other artists paint their design on a scale model, and have it transferred to the cars by assistants, but Warhol himself made quick work of painting the M1, completing the process in 23 minutes.

Warhol said: "I tried to portray speed pictorially. If a car is moving really quickly, all the lines and colors are blurred." The Warhol M1’s first and only race outing was at the 24-hour race at Le Mans in 1979, where it finished sixth in the overall ranking.

The video documentaries playing beside each car provide a fascinating background to the creation of each work of art. Warhol’s, in particular, is worth watching. Warhol, who bears a resemblance to Bernie Eccelstone, used sweeping brush strokes as well as his own fingers.

The other eleven art cars are also present, in 1:18 scale. Each model is accompanied by an audio recording describing the car and artist.

What’s next for the art car series? A BMW F1 art car would be an impressive addition. Perhaps Bernie Ecclestone himself could paint it.