The worlds of art and of automobiles do not often intersect. But one notable, if unlikely, exception was Andy Warhol, who ironically, never actually even had a driver's license. BMW's fourth art car, a 1979 M1, was painted by Warhol. At the time of his death, he was working on "Cars", a series of paintings for Mercedes-Benz to celebrate their centennial. This series included the painting "Mercedes-Benz W196 R Grand Prix Car (Streamlined Version, 1954)".

That painting is now going up for auction at Christie's auction house, and is expected to fetch as much as £10 million (about $16 million). The painting, like several others of his, features one image repeated in several different colors, and is of the legendary race car driven by Juan Manuel Fangio. That's a lot of legends all brought together by one painting, which has been in the possession of Mercedes-Benz since it was completed in 1986. But Mercedes has decided to part with the piece, figuring that it belongs in the hands of a proper art collector, someone who will care for it properly.