BMW 535i Art Car, Matazo Kayama 1990

Matazo Kayama, born in Kyoto in 1927, was a painter who moved between traditional Japanese art and modernism, and in 1990 he created the ninth BMW Art Car. He adapted a design he had made for the Tokyo National Museum of Arts, built on the theme of snow, moon and cherry blossoms, and applied it to a 535i, the six-cylinder saloon of 211 bhp. Fine blue shadows were airbrushed over the silver paint, and he used two Japanese techniques, kirigane, or metal cutting, and arare, foil impression, to set small pieces of silver, gold and aluminium foil into the bodywork. Kayama said the clean lines of the car only became clear to him once it was fully masked. It was made as an exhibit and never raced.

The model renders that surface closely: silver flecked all over with tiny white flakes, deep blue drifts across the bonnet, doors and boot lid scattered with gold and silver leaf, and softer bands of turquoise and lilac along the lower body. Around the artwork it is a period 535i, from the four round headlamps and kidney grille to the cross-spoke alloy wheels and grey cabin. It stands on clear posts over a brushed metal base engraved Art Car Matazo Kayama BMW 535i 1990. Minichamps makes it in diecast at 1:18.