Porsche built a modern-day 917 concept and it's stunning – Roadshow

Porsche blew minds when it debuted a 935 reimagined for the modern day, complete with the guts of the latest 911 GT2 RS. Now, a new Porsche Museum exhibit will show off yet another modern-day take on a classic, and this one might be even better than the 935.

Porsche on Monday showed off the first public picture of its modern-day 917 design concept. In the press release, Porsche said a small group of designers and engineers sought to recreate its hallowed racer with a modern twist. It never made it to the track, of course, but now it’ll be on display at the Porsche Museum from May to September, on display in public for the first time.

It’s unclear when Porsche actually built this. It looks as modern as any Porsche, with sleek lines evoking the curves of the original 917. Yet, the headlights look pretty close to those on the 918 Spyder hybrid hypercar, and the wheels were taken straight from the 918’s concept. It might be a few years old, based on how the press release phrases it (emphasis mine): “The red-and-white show car was designed by a small team of designers and engineers, though with the entry of Porsche into the LMP1 category of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), this model remained as purely a concept study.” The Porsche 918 snuck in barely ahead of the 919 Hybrid’s debut in 2014, so this study could already be five years old — not that it looks anything less than fresh. We have a word in with Porsche, and will update this story when Porsche confirms its provenance.

Porsche’s 917 was the first car to give the automaker an overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970, a feat it followed up with another victory in 1971. Depending on the variant, power comes from a flat-12 engine in one of three different displacements. Its final hurrah came in 1973, with the 917/30 Can-Am variant, which completely dominated Can-Am racing. It was also the car Steve McQueen drove in Le Mans.

The whole Porsche Museum exhibit will be on display from May 14 to Sept. 15 at the Porsche Museum in Germany. In addition to this concept, Porsche will show off 13 other exhibits that include 10 different 917 models, as well as technical exhibits and racing posters. There’ll also be some 917-specific merch on offer, including a barbecue apron styled after the “Pink Pig” 917/20. I’ll take five of those, please.