05/09/2019 DPCcars Videos

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the absolutely iconic Porsche 917 race car. Introduced in 1969, among its many racing titles was bringing Porsche to its first win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970—followed by another win the next year. The 917 was made especially famous by being the star car in Steve McQueen’s 1971 film Le Mans, and that car sold for a record price two years ago. To celebrate the 917’s birthday, Porsche is opening a special exhibit at the Porsche Museum that will run from May 14 to September 15, with 10 different models to be displayed. Most interestingly to us, Porsche also has revealed the stunning car you see here: the company calls it the 917 Living Legend concept, and it has never been seen until now.

Porsche says the concept was developed in just six months by “a small team of designers and engineers” in 2013 and will remain just a study. It’s quite obviously a painted clay model—the finish, blacked-out windows, and many of the details give that away—but it’s a full-scale car and uses wheels that were nabbed from a 918 Spyder. The red-and-white “Salzburg” livery is taken directly from the 917 that won Le Mans in 1970 (pictured at the bottom of the story), as is the racing number 23.