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24H Backstage | 24h-lemans.com

In 1977, the BMW Art Car series turned to Pop Art with a comic-inspired design by Roy Lichtenstein for the new BMW 320i Turbo. The car covered in the artist’s famous Ben-Day dots crossed the 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans finish line.

In 1977, a major figure of Pop Art took on the challenge of turning a race car into a work of art. Roy Lichtenstein was the third artist, and the third American after <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/bmw-art-cars-at-the-24-hours-of-le-mans-bmw-3-0-csl-by-calder-the-pioneer-60204">Alexander Calder</a> and <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/bmw-art-cars-at-the-24-hours-of-le-mans-bmw-3-0-csl-by-frank-stella-the-graph-60206">Frank Stella</a> to illustrate a BMW fielded at Le Mans. The BMW 320i Turbo combined striking artwork with excellent results, claiming ninth place overall and a class win.

Lichtenstein turned to his emblematic Ben-Day dot pattern to decorate the BMW 320i Turbo, adding a reference to the car&rsquo;s racing environment on the sides. The design is reminiscent of the comic strip inspiration favoured by Lichtenstein since the sixties, and also portrays the surroundings through which the car is driven.

That year the initiator of the Art Car project Herv&eacute; Poulain shared the wheel with Marcel Mignot. The #50 started the race with the firm intention of finishing. &ldquo;Roy Lichtenstein used the sun rays and dots that are part of all his work, because they both were the right match for the 24 Hours of Le Mans,&rdquo; explained Poulain. &ldquo;The dots gave the car a feline look.&rdquo;

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<h2>An Art Car at the finish of the 24 Hours of Le Mans</h2>

The 1977 Art Car was a different model to the previous ones. The 320i Turbo was part of the 3 Series introduced in 1975 to replace the celebrated BMW 2002 and BMW elected to field the new car opposite the Porsche 935 in the new Group 5 classification. Its first Le Mans appearance was in 1977.

Marcel Mignot remembers being on tenterhooks throughout the race. &ldquo;Around 8 pm, I noticed the oil pressure was at zero. I went in and they sent me back out. The pressure went up from time to time, then back down again later on. I decided to ease off to protect the engine.&rdquo; Both drivers skilfully make up for the default and despite temperamental weather ranked sixth by daybreak. 
The BMW 320i Turbo gradually lost power as the hours ticked by, yet soldiered on.&ldquo;By the end of the race, the car was more and more difficult to handle due to the lack of power, but we finished ninth all the same,&rdquo; says Marcel Mignot. A remarkable result overall, and a class win. &ldquo;The sun on the car&rsquo;s side probably acted as a good-luck charm&rdquo; jokes the driver.

The BMW 320i Turbo by Lichtenstein marked an important stage in the Art Car saga: for the first time, the car didn&rsquo;t just attract attention in the early hours of the race as a work of art, it finished the race. In a fusion of Pop Art, endurance and mechanical engineering, the BMW Art Car went from cultural exhibit to real race car, earning a place in the history books.

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In a tribute to a half-century of fantastic liveries, this year&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.retromobile.com/en/">R&eacute;tromobile show</a> (28 January to 1 February at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles) will be showcasing the seven 24 Hours of Le Mans BMW Art Cars including the BMW 320i Turbo by Roy Lichtenstein.

BMW Art Cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – BMW 320i Turbo: the Pop Art performer

McLaren Racing has named Mikkel Jensen as driver for its 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans entry and FIA World Endurance Championship campaign.

McLaren Racing will be fielding a Hypercar at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the FIA World Endurance Championship from 2027. The British manufacturer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/2025-24-hours-of-le-mans-mclaren-introduces-the-world-to-its-hypercar-59772" target="_blank">took the wraps off</a> the twin-turbo V6 Hypercar&nbsp;with its Dallara-designed chassis at the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans. The time has come to constitute a driver crew. Mikkel Jensen is to race for the official McLaren United AS WEC Hypercar Team.

The 31-year-old&rsquo;s professional career began in 2017. He was rapidly successful in the various international GT classes and won European Le Mans Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship titles at the wheel of prototypes, catching the eye of the Peugeot scouts who hired him to drive the 9X8 from 2023-5.

McLaren will spend 2026 developing its Hypercar. Mikkel Jensen has an important role to play in the programme. Meanwhile, he will be racing under the United Autosports banner in the Asian Le Mans Series and at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, round 1 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Mikkel Jensen: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m extremely proud to be joining the World Championship-winning McLaren family and excited to be a part of its Hypercar project from the early stages. Stepping onto the boulevard at the McLaren Technology Centre gives me goosebumps &ndash; it not only brings to life how much history McLaren has in Formula 1 but the 1995 Le Mans-winning F1 GTR reminds me that we have an incredible endurance story to continue.&rdquo;

James Barclay, McLaren Endurance Racing&rsquo;s Team Principal: &ldquo;Announcing Mikkel is another important milestone in the formation of our newHypercar team. He has already proven himself as one of the most competitive and well-rounded sportscar racing drivers in the world and will bring with him a wealth of experience from the Hypercar category. 
We will enter the World Endurance Championship and Le Mans in what will arguably be the most-competitive season of all time. We are delighted to have a driver of Mikkel&rsquo;s calibre, experience and future potential. Like us, he is a true racer and is therefore a great fit with our philosophy on people and culture, which has been integral to McLaren Racing&rsquo;s world championship-winning success in Formula 1. OurWorld Endurance Championship team is coming together nicely and Mikkel is a fantastic addition.&rdquo;

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McLaren Racing announces its first Hypercar driver

The 1976 24 Hours of Le Mans featured the second BMW 3.0 CSL Art Car, with a contrasting style to the previous year. After Alexander Calder’s explosion of colour came a black and white grid design by Frank Stella based on oversize graph paper.

The BMW 3.0 CSL by Frank Stella fielded at the 1976 24 Hours of Le Mans introduced a striking new Art Car: a technical drawing becoming a work of art as the car&rsquo;s livery.

Following on from the first Art Car, the <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/bmw-art-cars-at-the-24-hours-of-le-mans-bmw-3-0-csl-by-calder-the-pioneer-60204">BMW 3.0 CSL by Alexander Calder</a> fielded in 1975, BMW continued the series, offering racegoers a new artistic experience. Once again, the Bavarian manufacturer chose an American artist to design a livery. Motorsport aficionado Frank Stella was said to be delighted &ndash; honoured even &ndash; to accept the commission. Stella&rsquo;s design set colour aside to concentrate on structure.

<h2>An Art Car intended to attract attention</h2>

The distinctive black and white made the BMW 3.0 CSL stand out from the crowd, with the previous year&rsquo;s blocks of colour replaced by a reference to the squared paper used for technical drawing. The grid pattern highlighted the design of the car itself, as if it were wearing its structure on its bodywork. Applied by Walter Maurer, BMW&rsquo;s bodywork artist, the paintwork turned the 3.0 CSL into a fast-moving graphical object, in stark contrast to the many coloured liveries in the field. &ldquo;Painting cars, I think, is insanely difficult. You have to think of a new idea, and I didn&rsquo;t think of this idea. It was just luck. It was the first thing that I did, but it worked out quite well,&rdquo; said Stella.

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The strict lines hint at the formidable machinery beneath. With 750hp, the BMW 3.0 CSL was quick, and required expert driving. In the hands of Brian Redman and Peter Gregg it lived up to its potential, clocking the eighth best time in qualifying. But Le Mans is unforgiving and an oil issue forced withdrawal from the race.The car was not necessarily destined to win Le Mans, but &ldquo;They just wanted to take the lead, so that they could be in the newspapers. [The car] turned out to be a bonanza, because black and white reproduces really well so it separated itself from the field, you could really see it in the photos. So, it really served its purpose.&rdquo;

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<h2>The car on display for the 50th anniversary of R&eacute;tromobile</h2>

Frank Stella&rsquo;s career took a new turn thanks to the Art Car. A three-dimensional design was very different to flat surfaces. It fleshed out his work. &ldquo;The car must have had some influence because after that I tried to make shapes that were wavy and had more volume.&rdquo;

The BMW 3.0 CSL by Frank Stella confirmed the Art Car as an annual statement by BMW at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As a reflection on volume, speed and perception, Stella&rsquo;s work confirmed the Art Car&rsquo;s status as part of the culture of the world&rsquo;s greatest endurance race.

In a tribute to a half-century of fantastic liveries, <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/all-seven-le-mans-bmw-art-cars-on-display-at-retromobile-2026-in-paris-60209">this year&rsquo;s R&eacute;tromobile show </a>(28 January to 1 February at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles) will be showcasing the seven 24 Hours of Le Mans BMW Art Cars, including the BMW 3.0 CSL by Frank Stella.

BMW Art Cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – BMW 3.0 CSL by Frank Stella: the graph

New season. New name. New car. Toyota entering the 2026 FIA WEC season as TOYOTA RACING with this beast, the upgraded #TR010HYBRID Hypercar.

TR010 HYBRID Unveiling video

The evolution of the Mustang GT3 harnesses the unmistakable spirit of an American Icon and 60-plus years of rich racing heritage. It returns to grids worldwide in 2026 — sharpened, unbridled and ready to win.

The Evolution of Mustang GT3 | Ford Racing

Short highlights of the second race of the 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series in Malaysia on Sunday 14 December

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BMW Art Cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – BMW 320i Turbo: the Pop Art performer

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BMW Art Cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – BMW 3.0 CSL by Frank Stella: the graph

TR010 HYBRID Unveiling video

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