10.
Andy Warhol was the fourth artist commissioned to design an Art Car.
Those preceding him were Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, and Roy Lichtenstein.
9.
The car features a fiberglass body.
The material requires extra caution when handling the vehicle, as paint may easily be chipped or cracked on the surface.
8.
The M1 was brought indoors through a window when it was put on display at the Warhol Museum in 2012.
The exhibition required the removal and re-installation of an entire window.
7.
In 2003, BMW released a limited number of 1:18 scale diecast models.
Each model of the featured Art Cars was initially released at an MSRP of $125, but today the miniatures are extremely rare and can only be obtained through auctions.
6.
The car was on display at the inaugural Paris Photo L.A.
In celebration of BMW and Paris Photo's 10th anniversary of partnership, the M1 was on display at Paramount Pictures Studios from April 26-28. It will stay in the United States for more appearances that will be announced soon.
5.
The colors and design represent high speeds.
Warhol described his vision saying, "I tried to portray a sense of speed. When a car is going really fast, all the lines and colors become a blur."
4.
He ran his fingers through the paint.
He did this as part of expressing the car's speed.
3.
The car raced just once, and it was at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979.
It finished in sixth place overall and second place in class.
2.
It was driven by three drivers: Manfred Winkelhock of Germany, Hervé Poulain of France, and Marcel Mignot of France.
The BMW Art Car project itself was initiated by Hervé Poulain in 1975.
1.
He spent 23 minutes painting the car.
While other artists who have styled Art Cars have created their designs on scaled-down models to be transferred by others onto actual cars, Andy Warhol insisted on working on his final canvas and doing the painting himself.
