This might not be a classic BMW Art Car but it’s got to be the next best thing as the German brand has teamed up with American artist Jeff Koons for the creation of the 8 X JEFF KOONS, a very custom and unique version of the 8-series Gran Coupe. Let’s take a look at this uber-rare piece of art that you can actually own and drive if you so dare.
This is actually the second time that
Koons specifically designed a car for BMW and the first was an M3 GT2 Art Car
all the way back in 2010. That car ended up racing at Le Mans, but this one is
designed for mall crawling and a small production run. For the 8 X JEFF KOONS,
the artist personally designed the exterior livery and the interior color
treatments that won’t be available outside of this limited 99-unit worldwide
run.
The exterior is about as bright and
energetic as any livery could be with “vapor thrust” imagery and the literal
word “POP!” emblazoned on the side of the car. Koons intended to gently call
back to his 2010 art car with this car’s exploding lines of color. Speaking of
the wild exterior, BMW says that the paint process for the limited edition
model requires 11 different stages and several hundred hours per vehicle to
complete.
Inside the car is no less shocking to our
eyes. In there you’ll find bright red and blue upholstery that could’ve come
out of Tom Holland’s Marvel trailer as well as light brown (yes brown) leather,
carpeting, and headliner. Each week, a pair of these cars will be produced
until all 99 are complete. Every example will come with a large-format
certificate of authenticity containing its unique vehicle identification number
(VIN), personally signed by Jeff Koons and BMW Chairman and CEO Oliver Zipse.
THE 8 X JEFF KOONS is exclusively offered
as an M850i xDrive Gran Coupe in the U.S. market and is priced at US$ 350,000
plus US$ 995 destination and handling. For those of you counting, that’s a US$ 250,100 premium over the base M850i xDrive Gran Coupe that retails for US$ 99,900
in the States.
