Alexander Calder
1975 BMW 3.0 CSL · first BMW Art Car · Le Mans no. 93
A verified photograph of this individual car is still needed.
Photo details
Joyride serves the current 434 × 640 Commons JPEG byte-for-byte. No crop, resize, colorization, retouching or generation; a responsive frame may crop displayed edges. The portrait remains separate from the Art Car photograph.
The first Art Car started on the grid
- Connection
- Artist commission · not ownership
- When
- Designed and raced in 1975 · displayed thereafter
- Identity
- First BMW Art Car · 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL · Le Mans race no. 93 · no chassis number claimed
The BMW Art Car idea began with French racing driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain and BMW Motorsport director Jochen Neerpasch. BMW records that Alexander Calder accepted the commission at age 77 and composed the 3.0 CSL in broad areas of red, yellow, blue, black and white. It became the first car in a collection that later included Andy Warhol’s M1 and Esther Mahlangu’s 525i.
This is an artist commission, not a personal-ownership story. The car entered the 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans as no. 93 with Sam Posey, Jean Guichet and Poulain. BMW says it retired after seven hours because of a defective propeller shaft; that single start was its only race.
BMW specifies a 3,210 cc inline six, four valves per cylinder, twin overhead camshafts, 480 bhp and a 291 km/h top speed for this racing CSL. Those figures describe this competition car, not every 3.0 CSL or the wider E9 family. A licensed 2007 photograph identifies the surviving no. 93 car, but Joyride does not reproduce it because the photographer’s Creative Commons license does not by itself establish separate permission for the depicted Calder artwork. The exact-car source remains linked below while that rights gap is open.
Where the car went next
- 1975Calder designs the first BMW Art Car
BMW records Calder translating his characteristic primary-color forms onto a 3.0 CSL at Poulain and Neerpasch’s invitation. The commission does not establish Calder’s ownership.
- June 14–15, 1975Race no. 93 starts at Le Mans
Sam Posey, Jean Guichet and Hervé Poulain drove the car; BMW records retirement after seven hours with a defective propeller shaft.
- After Le MansOne race, then exhibition life
BMW says the CSL never raced again and has been displayed since. Joyride does not infer a present venue, legal owner or chassis number.
- January 6, 2007The exact no. 93 car photographed in Beijing
Tim Wang photographed the identifiable Calder CSL on display. The file is useful identity evidence, but its photographer license does not settle reproduction rights for the artwork painted on the car.
Sources for this story
BMW identifies Calder’s individual 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL as the first BMW Art Car, records the no. 93 Le Mans entry, drivers, specifications, seven-hour propeller-shaft retirement and exhibition life. Tim Wang’s 2007 photograph shows that exact no. 93 car, but Joyride leaves the car-photo space empty because separate reproduction rights for the depicted Calder artwork are not established. No Calder ownership or driving, chassis number, present legal owner, current display venue, road-car equivalence, complete 3.0 CSL/E9-family coverage, exact Joyride catalog link or game compatibility is claimed.
- Alexander Calder · BMW 3.0 CSL · 1975BMW Art Car Collection · Official collection record · reviewed 2026-10-06 · external source
The first Art Car identity, 3.0 CSL racing specification, Le Mans no. 93 drivers, seven-hour propeller-shaft retirement and one-race history.
- The history of the legendary BMW Art Cars · Alexander CalderBMW Group · Current official history · reviewed 2026-10-06 · external source
Poulain and Neerpasch’s initiative, Calder’s commission at age 77, the red/yellow/blue/black/white design and the car’s place at the start of the Art Car collection.
Reviewed
Exact-car photo leads and rights status
- Photo identity evidence
BMW identifies Calder’s first Art Car as the 1975 3.0 CSL that raced at Le Mans as no. 93.
- Photo identity evidence
Tim Wang identifies the January 6, 2007 photograph as Alexander Calder’s 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL, and race number 93 is visible. The photograph is CC BY-SA 2.0, but Joyride does not host it because separate reproduction rights for the depicted Calder artwork are not established.
These linked sources help identify the individual car, but reuse is not cleared. Joyride does not host or extract them; the chassis caveat in the story still applies.