Marko Hanželic
BMW and Puma are celebrating the legendary pop artist's 100th birthday Roy Lichtenstein together created a clothing collection inspired by the art car he painted in 1977.
The connection between the collection and the vehicle is clear, as it contains Lichtenstein's characteristic "Ben Day Dots", inspired by the comics of the 60s, and the bold white, yellow, green, red and blue colors that were present on the art car BMW 320i Turbo, which he painted.
One of the true legends of the BMW art car collection, it had a turbocharged 2,0-liter inline-four that could 224 kW (304 HP) and reached a top speed of 257 km/h. It also had flared fenders and massive wings to make it ready to compete in group races Group 5.
Mentioned BMW 320i Turbo it was not only a showpiece, but also took part in the 1977 Hours of Le Mans in 24, eventually taking first place in its class. Lichtenstein said that he put a lot of effort and thought into the design of the car, as he was a legend in the art scene in his time.
"I wanted to use the painted lines as a road that would show the car the way," he said at the time Lichtenstein. “The design also shows the landscape as the vehicle passes by. You can even see the sky and the sunlight... you could list all the things that a car experiences - the only difference is that this car reflects it all before it even hits the road.”
The artist sadly passed away in 1997, but to honor his contribution to BMW's collection of art cars, Puma has reimagined his design for the fashion world. Collection BMW Art Car Capsule Collection consists of five pieces of clothing.
These are BMW M Motorsport RL Bomber Jacket, tracksuit, t-shirt, hat and sneakers. The prices of the items range from 50 EUR for a cap to 200 EUR for a bomber jacket. The limited collection is currently available in BMW online store and in selected stores Puma.
