Last month, BMW teamed up with iconic designer Jeff Koons to pen a special design for the 8 Series Gran Coupe for the Frieze Los Angeles art exhibition. This wasn't the first time that Koons collaborated with the brand as he had already had the prestigious honor of creating an official art car based on the M3 GT2 racecar.
Similar to the range of BMW M4 Kith cars, the Koons edition of the M850i xDrive was confirmed to be a limited edition production run of just 99 units with an MSRP of $350,000. This last of the bunch was auctioned off by Christie's with proceeds of the sale going to the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC); an organization that fights the horror of child trafficking on a global scale.
BMW confirms that the ecstatic model fetched a final bid of $475,000. That's quite a chunk more than the ordinary model's MSRP of $99,900. The 99th build of the special run is also the only car to be signed by Koons, further highlighting its exclusivity. This auction is very close to Koons's heart as it is a charitable organization that he has supported for the last 20 years.
Sebastian Mackensen, president and CEO of BMW North America, says that the brand was glad to be a part of the movement. He expresses, "Acting with responsibility is an important quality of our company, so it is especially gratifying to know that the proceeds from this auction will support children in need."
ICMEC CEO Bob Cunningham states that Koons's involvement in this fundraising project provides a crucial boost for its ability to keep children safe. He says, "The funds raised from this collaboration will help ICMEC respond to the critical challenges children face from the pandemic and forced migration. This generous contribution will help us to develop better technologies to locate and identify missing kids, including children who are lost, abducted, or trafficked in conflict areas, and to advocate for policies, laws, and interventions that better address issues like the proliferation of child sexual abuse material, online grooming, and live streaming that have emerged as even greater threats to children during the pandemic."
2022 is certainly looking to be the year of the art car with Porsche getting involved with revered designer Sean Wortherspoon on a harlequin-inspired rendition of the Porsche Taycan 4S Cross Turismo last month. The McLaren Artura also benefited from a vibrant recreation at the hands of Nat Bowen who applied a stunning resin-based multicolored finish to the electrified supercar.