We don’t like to say it too much out of fear that we’d lose ‘cool guy’ points from all of you, but we figure that there’s no harm in saying it now. We enjoy and appreciate art, so much so that nothing gets us more excited than to see two of our favorite subjects being designed together to create one beautiful piece of automotive artwork.

That’s right! We love art cars!

From Jeff Koons' BMW M3 GT2 to the Audi A1 Art Car, and even the Citroen Survolt Art Car, art cars always have a soft spot in our hearts, and now that Tesla->ke1842 has decided to join the fold, we couldn’t help but get a tad excited over this one too.

Designed by artist Laurence Gartel, this Tesla Roadster Sport Art Car was covered In a psychedelic vinyl wrap with a colorful digital swirl design. This kind of artwork is right up Gartel’s alley, whose history with digital art goes all the way back to its seedling stages in the 70’s. With over 30 years of experience under his belt, Gartel was the perfect choice for Tesla and as evidenced by his work, the electric automaker really hit this one out of the park.

Press Release after the jump.

2011 Tesla Roadster Art Car by Laurence Gartel

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2011 Tesla Roadster Art Car by Laurence Gartel
  • Segment: Array

Press Release

Tesla Motors and digital artist Laurence Gartel have transformed the Tesla Roadster, the only electric supercar on the road, into a true work of art. Wrapped in Gartel's visually-stunning artwork, the one-of-a-kind Roadster will be displayed and toured around Miami Beach through next week as part of Miami's annual Art Basel festival on Dec. 2-5.

Tesla and Gartel are natural partners, both capitalizing on new technologies to break ground in the automotive and art worlds. Just as Tesla pioneered uncompromised electric driving with the Roadster, Gartel introduced the world to new types of digital art in the 1970s. His work has since been featured at the Museum of Modern Art and the Smithsonian, among others.

"I was in shock when I took off like a rocket," says Gartel, who fell in love with the Roadster the first time he drove it. "This vehicle takes off like it's heading to Mars and you don't hear a thing. No burning of fossil fuels either. It's an extraordinary car."

The wrapped Roadster will be on display at Gartel's Art Basel celebration at the Nikki Beach club in Miami Beach on Friday, Dec. 3, starting at 7:30 p.m. It will also be hitting the hot spots in town during the festival.

Accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds without using a drop of gasoline, the Tesla Roadster proves that drivers don't need to sacrifice style, beauty or performance in order to own an electric car.