Here at Goodwood Road & Racing, we're never happier than when pouring over the thoughtfully dabbed strokes of an early Monet, exploring Van Gouch's descent into psychosis through his art or examining Edvard Munch's The Frieze of… Okay, we're not convincing anyone. The fact is, cars are our art and if you can get art on cars – all the better. Neatly bringing us to today's topic, our favourite art cars, inspired by the latest from Bugatti, which has been drawn on in pencil. We've got something for everyone here, spanning the famous BMW Art Car collection through the Chiron, Ferrari, Porsche and, er, a Honda Civic, and a Volvo estate. Keep reading as we take a look at art cars in all shapes and sizes.
The 8 best art cars
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1. Bugatti Chiron ‘Golden Era’
Our journey begins with the car that sparked this particular office discussion – the Bugatti' Golden Era' Chiron. The Golden Era does precisely what it says on the tin (or carbon fibre) because its body features hand-drawn sketches documenting Bugatti's progression through the ages covering landmark models like the Type 41 Royale and Type 57 SC Atlantic. This particular artwork carries through to the interior, where you'll find beautifully pencilled drawings of the EB110, Veyron and Chiron – a sort of Russian Doll play on Bugatti's decade-defining hypercars. The sleek lines of the Chiron provide quite the canvas, although the humble pencil isn't the ideal tool for the job on a 1,600PS (1,177kW) hypercar that can touch 300mph top speed, all but confirming this Chiron's garage-queen future.
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2. Porsche 911 Lanzante SJ87
The Porsche 911 SJ87 by Lanzante could be the first example of a canvas upstaging the artwork it hosts because not only is the 911 one of the most iconic shapes in motoring; this particular example uses a 510PS (558kW) 1.5-litre turbocharged Porsche-developed V6 as its easel. It's the same engine used by Stefan Johansson's McLaren MP4/3 in the 1987 Austrian Grand Prix, where the SJ87 name comes from. While the race car produced 760PS (558kW), the road car's engine is detuned to a positively docile 510PS (375kW). The paint job itself is also the work of Johansson, with colours inspired by his life. The green comes from his helmet design, the blue and yellow flag of Sweden, and the red comes from his car's Marlboro livery.
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3. BMW 850 CSi by David Hockney
Choosing a favourite BMW Art Car is tantamount to choosing your favourite child – they're all great and could easily feature on this list. But the 850CSi makes the cut because its pert kidney grilles, flowing lines and dished ninja star alloys were the precursor for a Golden decade of Munich motoring, bringing us everything from the haloed E46 3 Series and E39 5 Series to the E36/8 Z3 bread van and Bond-defining E38 7 Series – times long gone, but not forgotten. It also helps that Brit David Hockney, famed for the 1960s pop art movement, completed the 850CSi's paint job. You'll find yet more art under the CSi's huge bonnet. Below it, you'll find a 390PS (287kW) 5.6-litre V12 that is as close as the 8 Series ever got to being a proper M car, courtesy of a forged crank and lighter pistons. Factor in its manual gearbox and limited-slip differential, and this car weighs heavily towards the sporty side of the GT spectrum.
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4. Volvo V50 by Romero Britto
In our effort to bring you an art car for all tastes and budgets, we give you – the Volvo V50 art car. Romero Britto's artwork features skis, parachutes, surfboards, bicycles – and the rest. The words 'All about adventure' scrolled across its boot lid – a nod, we're sure, to the 'lifestyle' accommodating nature of the Volvo's Intelligent Vehicle Architecture's roomy interior. The V50 is a sad reminder of better times when Volvo's were predominantly five-cylinder warbling estates unencumbered by a 112mph speed limiter. The twin pipes of this particular example point to it being a T5 (back when that meant something) with 223PS (164kW) served to the front wheels in a cloud of glorious tyre smoke. Performance of 0-62mph in 6.9 seconds and a 149mph top speed is none too shabby today, even if the handling is stodgy next to a contemporary BMW 3 Series.
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5. Lexus LFA by Pedro Henriques
We need no encouragement to feature a Lexus LFA on these haloed pages, so news that the company had created an art car sealed the deal. Designed in 2018 to celebrate ten years of Lexus' sporty 'F' badge, Portuguese artist Pedro Henriques created the LFA Art Car, using organic lines to express a sense of movement and evolution. Or, as Henriques puts it: "The lines follow this sense of going everywhere and never stopping: a progressive life. I wanted to reach an organic feeling by using hand-made material and liquid lines in the elements spread throughout the car." Frankly, the Lexus' wailing 560PS (412kW) V10 is all the art we need. It got the LFA from 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds and on to 202mph while making an entire generation rethink everything they'd previously understood about Lexus.
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6. Bentley Flying Spur by Richard Morris
Not to be outdone by John Lennon's psychedelic Rolls Royce (copyright prevents its inclusion, here), Bentley produced its own art car for 2021's European Diversity Month. Called the Unifying Spur, Richard Morris' work features the 'love is love' symbol and the Progress flag, which has the Pride rainbow plus black, brown, pink and white to represent people of colour, trans communities and those affected by HIV. The car toured around events as a bastion of Bentley's plans for inclusive employment and an EV future. And, if you're going to tour events, few cars will do it in more style and comfort than the air-sprung Flying Spur. Serving up 550PS (405kW) and 568 lb-ft from just 2,000rpm, it's good for a 0-62mph in four seconds and a 198mph top speed.
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7. Honda Civic Type R by Dominique Graton
If ever a car needed a flashy paint job to take your eye off some questionable styling, it's a fast Honda Civic – this particular example being the Civic WTCC race car that took to Goodwood Hill back in 2016. The work of Dominique Graton, Art Director at the Jean Graton Foundation, depicts, the press release tells us, the comic character Michel Vaillant chasing a Ferrari through the Monaco tunnel during the 1974 Grand Prix. We can't argue it's an eye-catching design. To best recreate the look yourself, you'll need an FK2 Civic Type R, best remembered for having a (very) lightly tuned version of the VTEC 2.0-litre in the EP3 it replaced, only with a bone-crushing ride and without that model's sophisticated independent rear suspension. Doh.
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8. Ferrari 812 Competizione by Flavio Manzoni
This Ferrari 812 Competizione is unique among the cars (or do we mean art) you see here because this is one 'piece' you can buy – it crosses the blocks at a New York Charity Gala next month (October 2023). That's not all that makes it unique. The 812 Competizione celebrates the design process involved in styling a new Ferrari (as well as being a shop window for the company's Tailor Made personalisation program). The Giallo Tristrato paint finish emulates the yellow cards used by the company's designers. At the same time, the exterior lines mimic early sketches of a new model and were hand-drawn by Ferrari chief designer Flavio Manzoni. There's a mafioso tailor feel to its chalked lines and shiny paint job; maybe that's just us. What isn't open to interpretation is that the Ferrari 812 Competizione – one of just 999 built – is the last hurrah of naturally aspirated V12 Ferraris and is worth buying for that reason alone.
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