The latest reminder comes from Aston Martin Racing, which on 8 June unveiled a special livery for the Gulf no 97 Vantage GTE racecar. The machine is due to make its competition debut on 13 June at the Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race.

Painted by German abstract expressionist Tobias Rehberger, the V8-powered coupe joins a roster of endurance racing cars that acted as muses for avant-gardists. The best known of these are BMW’s series of art cars, which began life in the mid-1970s with an E9 painted by US artist Alexander Calder.

Rehberger has exhibited globally, including at the Venice Biennale, where in 2009 he was awarded the Golden Lion for his "café” installation – a riot of intersecting black and white planes that doubled as a cafeteria during the art fair. Londoners may recognise his contribution to the Dazzle Ships series from 2014: a re-skin of the World War I warship HMS President.

Says Rehberger of his Aston livery: "The design is based on a geometric optical effect pattern. Comparable to a fast object, a steady fixation on a point of the pattern is impossible.” Indeed, if the car prompts feelings of "distorted perception” and "visual confusion”, imagine hunting a line to overtake it at 250km/h. At night.

The Le Mans 24 Hours takes place 13-14 June at La Sarthe, France.

(BBC)