BMW has been creating its Art Cars since 1975 with the famous Batmobile race car designed by Alexander Calder. 2010 sees a return to racing Art Cars with the M3 GT2…

This is the latest BMW Art Car design, which will be raced in the GT2 category at Le Mans. The livery for the BMW M3 GT2 racer has been designed by artist Jeff Koons and is the 17th BMW Art Car to be created.

BMW says Koons created this design by looking at the history of race car graphics, light bursts and speed. In a statement, it added that the design is “evocative of power, motion and light”.

“These race cars are like life, they are powerful and there is a lot of energy,” said Koons. “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.”

The Art Car will race at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, and be driven by Andy Priaulx, Dirk Muller and Dirk Werner. Another M3 GT3 car will be raced by Jorg Muller, Augusto Farfus and Uwe Alzen. Some more images of the incredible looking machine:

And well, just because we can, here are some of the original Art Cars: