Art Car: 1996 BMW Z3


The idea of a late 1990s sports car with about 25k miles on the odometer sounds great on paper, but what if that car had an autotragic transmission? Would it still be worth some premium? And what if it also had an insane abstract paint job? At least you can say you’ve got the only one? Find this 1996 BMW Z3 offered for $14,750 in Waterloo, IL via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!

From the seller:
1996 bmw z3
condition: excellent
cylinders: 4 cylinders
drive: rwd
fuel: gas
odometer: 25500
paint color: custom
size: compact
title status: clean
transmission: automatic
type: convertible

This Z3 spent virtually it’s entire life in Beverly Hills, California. Summer driven only. Purchased new at Beverly Hills BMW. California emissions equipped. Custom hand painted by original owner who is an Abstract artist. One of a kind. Accident free Carfax will substantiate 25,500 actual miles. Cold A/C, Automatic transmission. SRS light is on. All books, complete factory trunk tool kit, etc. Clear Illinois title in my name. Very special car. You meet the most interesting people when driving it. Serious inquiries only, please. Located thirty minutes from St. Louis, Missouri. Fly in and drive it home.

I mostly like art cars, I dig a well done flashy paint job. That said, this particular car I don’t like the art. They are close to something I’d call cool but you’d need to leave out all the identifiable stuff like stick figures, violins and faces and it wouldn’t be too bad.
OK, so lived in LA, only used in the summer? Illinois title?? Located in St. Louis??? So many things make no sense on this ad.
Also these are terrible with an auto tranny.
As an Art I object to being lumped into the category of this car.
Art is subjective, but at least this appears to be well executed. I tried a brief search for the artist but came up empty.
Using a BMW as a canvas is appropriate considering the factory art cars (Calder, Koons, Warhol, etc.).
Maybe this was something special because it’s already gone.
inspired by Peter Max
I see some Earl Shieb inspiration in the painting of the tail pipe
If you want to meet lots of extroverted women with poor impulse control this is what you want to drive. Ask me how I know.
https://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f8834013488f55511970c-400wi
Stop at a stoplight, some woman gets in the car “so, where are we going?”
Well in NYC circa 1980 but still.
In a Dasher to boot!
I prefer Janis’ 356