Currently reading: Is Sir Peter Blake’s Bentley Continental GT your favourite art car?

British pop artist applies multi-coloured paint job to V8 S Convertible; it joins a long list of art cars

Bentley will donate a special Continental GT art car designed by Sir Peter Blake to an auction at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this summer, in the hope of raising thousands of pounds for charity.

Blake, a leading British pop artist who is sometimes best remembered for designing the sleeve for The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, has given the V8 S Convertible a multi-coloured paint job that features a giant heart on the bonnet.

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The car will go up for sale at Bonhams’ Goodwood auction in June, with all proceeds going to Care2Save Charitable Trust, which provides palliative and hospice care around the world. Expect it to raise a lot more than the £164,800 sticker price of a regular V8 S Convertible.

Other art cars

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Blake’s Continental is not the first art car to grab the attention of the industry. Some of the most famous art cars have come from BMW, with several of its Le Mans racing entries wearing multi-coloured paint jobs created by famous artists of yesteryear. The first BMW Art Car - a 1975 3.0 CSL - was created by Alexander Calder.

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More recently, Tesla collaborated with digital artist Laurence Gartel, who wrapped every body panel of a Roadster with a digital swirl design "to break ground in the automotive and art worlds".

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Then Citroën sought help from contemporary artist Francoise Nielly to create its Survolt Art Car concept, which was displayed in the car maker’s C_42 showroom in Paris.

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In 2014 Mini decorated a Cooper hatchback with Tron-inspired lines, inspired by the 2010 film Tron: Legacy and its 1980s predecessor. The Mini ‘DeLux’ was created by Alex Coyle, who had entered his design into a competition.

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Aston art

Last year Aston Martin entered a Tobias Rehberger-designed art car into Le Mans. The Vantage GTE received an abstract design with optical effects, distorting perception and making the number 97 car one of the most striking on the grid.

What’s your favourite art car? Let us know in the comments below. 

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harf 18 April 2016

None of the above

Has to be the magnificent M3 GT2 - Jeff Koons, 2010
Daniel Joseph 18 April 2016

Timid...

Far from being my favourite, the Bentley is the worst of those featured by a mile, simply because it's such a half-hearted effort. At least the exterior of the car can be put right easily by respraying the bonnet and grille surround. The mismatched seats are another matter... As to the others, I'd also go for the CSL, which looks great.
abkq 18 April 2016

The car itself, with multiple

The car itself, with multiple surfaces, planes and curves is already a work of art (if well designed). To add further colours and lines and shapes to a car will always work against the car's intrinsic shape. Even David Hockney's BMW interventions diminish the shape of the car.