Automotive Exceptionalism

Posts
17,628
Likes
26,745
@KAP awesome shots and a great museum did they any art cars about?

While some isetta are 3 wheeled ( a minority for tax dodging ) pretty sure that’s a 4 wheeler version.
 
Posts
833
Likes
1,777
Foo's correct - that one has two close-together wheels on the rear axle.

Just to think, I visited the Museum in it's first week of being open, soon after I'd started working for BMW Concessionaires GB. Already mad about the then current cars, my affinity for the marque was greatly enhanced by the then futurist look of the new Four Cylinder tower and the Museum below. In the tower people vied with some vigour to get a 'window seat' desk. From one side on the upper floors the view was fantastic, with the mountains in the distance. Usually we used to drive from the UK to Munich, and, with the models on carbs, they always seemed to run better once they were breathing the Bavarian air again!

But enough of all that old guff - this thread is supposed to be about pornography, so cop an eyeful of this:

 
Posts
288
Likes
807
Thanks @Foo2rama and @davy26 for the correction that the museum Isetta was a 4 wheel microcar. And interesting to hear your connection to the Munich headquarters.

Yes, there was a displayed "Art Car" but I don't know which of the international artists created it. Not Andy Warhol's since that would have been memorable.

The museum had so much to absorb with information and displays of cars and motorcycles.

Watching cars produced at the adjacent factory was interesting too. Production is very different since the last time I toured a factory in Detroit decades ago.

But as davy26 said this thread is about pictures, so here was our BMW rental we had for getting around the Bavarian Alps.

 
Posts
833
Likes
1,777
@KAP - hope you enjoyed your driving down there - it's a great part of the world. In answer to the point about the Art Cars, as a fan of both BMW and Andy, I can't help but want to post what he did:
 
Posts
907
Likes
2,486
In the past when I was working in the automotive, I visited a few times their storage facility of BMW.

Now this is a place of dreams, as I would say ALL BMW’s that had made an impact was here. You could wander there for hours and see new things, prototypes, test cars, record cars, the actual cars used in filming 007 movies, art cars, bikes, safari winners, concept cars, you name it.

And yes, sorry no pictures where allowed at that time.

Here’s a link for this who want to read more about this place:

https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/cars/join-our-tour-bmws-secret-storage-lair
 
Posts
17,628
Likes
26,745

My favorite art car. It even has my name on it
 
Posts
833
Likes
1,777
I think Calder's #1 was the best of the series. The 'design' really complements the car's styling, and that wasn't the case with all versions, even where the 'artwork' was aesthetically pleasing in its own right, e.g. the Lichtenstein 320:
 
Posts
4,363
Likes
22,553
A couple of my favorite...

bmw-m-art-cars-sandro-chia-ms-l-04.jpg

8113342285_02e4c000ec_b.jpg

P90109157-bmw-art-cars-on-display-by-frank-stella-1976-bmw-3-0-csl-and-alexander-calder-1975-bmw-3-0-csl-on-we-2168px.jpg
 
Posts
907
Likes
2,486
Uh Brabus has a classic division?
That's amazing.
Yes, they have been doing this by passion for years and years and are the highest in standards when it comes to restoration of vintage Mercedes.
 
Posts
833
Likes
1,777
Thanks Jan. Your pics - which are excellent - prompted me to think it's over two years since I last drove an MB; your post has definitely installed an itch! The last Brabus I drove was a Smart - amusing, but with most of the familiar standard Smart frustrations - however, maybe the Twinamic-6 transmission addresses some of those (?)
 
Posts
907
Likes
2,486
Thanks Jan. Your pics - which are excellent - prompted me to think it's over two years since I last drove an MB; your post has definitely installed an itch! The last Brabus I drove was a Smart - amusing, but with most of the familiar standard Smart frustrations - however, maybe the Twinamic-6 transmission addresses some of those (?)
The direction is electric with BRABUS Smart. So entering a new era.
 
Posts
4,363
Likes
22,553

Love this guy and his craft.
I was lucky enough to meet him at the NY auto show back in 2014? (When the Agera R was on it's way out and the 1:1 was being introduced)
Super humble dude, and excited to talk to anyone about cars.

10292469_10203670457269936_8614123563756145944_n.jpg
 
Posts
833
Likes
1,777
Pic 3: blimey, he's going to bog that Huayra down, even with its 700+bhp!