BMW’s brilliant Art Cars are going on a world tour: what's your favourite?

It’s now 50 years since an extremely colourful BMW 3.0 CSL designed by American sculptor Alexander Calder raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And while it may have only managed to complete seven hours of that particular race, it started something much bigger for BMW.

There have now been 20 BMW Art Cars in total, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first they’re going on a world tour. Yep, you’ll want to wrap your eyeballs around these.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that all 20 cars are travelling the globe together. We assume the insurance premium for that would have been eye-watering.

There will be plenty of chances to see some excellent Art Car action though, with BMW describing this as the “largest exhibition project in the history of the collection”. The tour will span five continents and will kick off in March in Europe and Asia. On 20 and 21 March, the Art Cars created by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, David Hockney and Jeff Koons will be on display at the Museum of Applied Arts and the SPARK Art Fair in Vienna, while the latest Art Car – the M Hybrid V8 by Julie Mehretu – will be on display at Art Basel in Hong Kong from 28 to 30 March.

The full year-long schedule is apparently still evolving, but we do know the 13th car – the E36 Touring Car by Sandro Chia – will be at Villa d’Este in May, and that eight of the cars will be presented at the Louwman Museum in The Hague in July and August.

“The 20 vehicles have become international icons, telling stories of society, technology and performance,” said BMW's HR and real estate board member lka Horstmeier.

“Our commitment to art and culture is long-term. We are continuously developing the collection and bringing art and automotive culture together in a unique way.”

So here’s a question: which is your favourite of all the BMW Art Cars?