Man Dies Unloading Warhol BMW Art Car in Washington D.C.

A tragic accident has overshadowed preparations for Cars at the Capital, the Hagerty Driver’s Foundation’s annual display on Washington’s National Mall. A man died on Wednesday while unloading Andy Warhol’s celebrated BMW M1 Procar Art Car, according to a statement from the Metropolitan Police Department.

The incident occurred as the vehicle was being lowered from a flatbed truck. Police reports confirm that a winch failed, causing the car to fall and trap the driver beneath it. Emergency services attempted resuscitation, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity has not yet been released.

The foundation, which had planned to display the vehicle as part of a week-long showcase of historically significant cars, issued a brief statement: “On Wednesday afternoon, there was a tragic accident in Washington, D.C., during which a truck driver died while unloading a car. Our sincere condolences go out to the individual’s family. Out of respect, we will not comment further at this time and have cancelled the events planned for September 18–23.”

The Warhol BMW was to have been the centrepiece of this year’s programme. Painted in 1979, it is the fourth of the now-iconic Art Cars commissioned by BMW since 1975. Previous iterations had seen artists such as Alexander Calder, Frank Stella and Roy Lichtenstein reimagine the aesthetics of the racing car. When Warhol’s turn came, he abandoned sketches and applied the paint directly by hand, covering the M1’s aerodynamic body in just 28 minutes.

“I attempted to show speed as a visual image,” Warhol remarked at the time. “When an automobile is really travelling fast, all the lines and colours are transformed into a blur.” The car went on to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979, finishing a respectable sixth in its class, before being retired from the track. It has since toured extensively and, earlier this year, was formally entered into the National Historic Vehicle Register.

The Warhol M1 is widely regarded as one of the most recognisable examples from BMW’s 50-year-old Art Car programme. The series, launched by French racing driver Hervé Poulain, paired internationally acclaimed artists with vehicles destined for both competition and exhibition. Calder inaugurated the project in 1975 with a BMW 3.0 CSL, followed by Stella and Lichtenstein. The roster has since expanded to include David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Jeff Koons, Cao Fei and Julie Mehretu. Each artist was given complete freedom over design, producing rolling sculptures that now chart a half-century of shifting artistic practice, from Pop to Conceptual and beyond.

The decision to cancel Cars at the Capital comes as a blow to organisers, who had planned to use the Warhol BMW to headline the event’s 2025 edition. The foundation has confirmed the exhibition will not be rescheduled this year.

List of Past BMW Art Cars

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