The BMW Vantablack car is real: it was a one-off third-generation BMW X6 show car coated in Vantablack VBx2. BMW announced it on 28 August 2019 for presentation at the Frankfurt Motor Show, but did not announce a production Vantablack edition or a consumer paint option.
What was the BMW Vantablack car?
It was a collaborative project between BMW and Surrey NanoSystems, the company behind Vantablack. The vehicle was a third-generation BMW X6, selected for its distinctive shape and finished as an exclusive show car. BMW planned to present it at the Frankfurt Motor Show from 12 to 22 September 2019.
The X6 generation itself was due to begin its showroom launch in November 2019. That launch timing referred to the regular third-generation X6, not to a Vantablack production model. BMW Group’s 28 August 2019 announcement describes the coated vehicle as a one-off.
What paint is on the black BMW X6?
The finish was Vantablack VBx2, a sprayable variant BMW said had initially been developed for architectural and scientific applications. It is not the same variant as the original Vantablack introduced by Surrey NanoSystems in 2014.
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BMW reported that VBx2 has one-percent total hemispherical reflectance (THR). In practical terms, a very small amount of light is reflected across viewing angles. The result is that familiar surface cues—shading, reflections and visible detail—largely disappear, making the vehicle look nearly two-dimensional rather than like a normally glossy black car.
How much light does Vantablack absorb?
BMW’s release gives two different figures for two different variants. For VBx2, the X6’s coating, BMW reported one-percent THR. Separately, it said the original Vantablack generation absorbed up to 99.965 percent of light. That absorption figure is not the specification BMW gives for the X6’s VBx2 finish; reflectance and absorption are also differently named measures, so the figures should not be treated as a direct like-for-like comparison.
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BMW also reported that the coating’s structure used vertically aligned carbon nanotubes 14–50 micrometres long and 20 nanometres in diameter, at around one billion nanotubes per square centimetre. These are technical figures stated in BMW’s 2019 release.
Why coat an X6 in Vantablack?
The effect turns the vehicle’s proportions into the main visual feature. Hussein Al Attar, Creative Director Automotive Design at Designworks and the designer responsible for the new X6, said: “We often prefer to talk about silhouettes and proportions rather than surfaces and lines.” He explained that the VBx2 finish foregrounded those qualities by removing the distraction of light and reflections.
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That made the X6 a purposeful subject for the experiment: its bold proportions and distinctive silhouette remain legible as an outline even as the coating suppresses much of the visual information that normally describes a car’s body surfaces.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Can you buy the BMW Vantablack X6?
BMW’s announcement presents the vehicle as a one-off show car, not as a model for sale. It does not offer a Vantablack edition or say customers could order the VBx2 finish. Surrey NanoSystems founder and chief technical officer Ben Jensen described adapting the coating for automotive use as difficult: “In addition, developing a Vantablack VBx2 car paint durable enough for daily use is a huge technological challenge.”
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- PULLBACK ACTION: Features a built-in pullback motor — simply pull back, release, and watch the car zoom forward on its own.
- DOORS OPEN: Both doors open and close, revealing a detailed interior that adds to the realistic look and feel of this model car.
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The announcement establishes that durability was a major obstacle at the time; it does not establish the coating’s current commercial availability or the car’s present location. A regular BMW X6 is not the Vantablack show car, and the official account does not identify a retail paint or replica product.
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- PULLBACK ACTION: Features a built-in pullback motor — simply pull back, release, and watch the car zoom forward on its own.
- DOORS OPEN: Both doors open and close, revealing a detailed interior that adds to the realistic look and feel of this model car.
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