The Porsche 917 is as iconic as racecars get, with a sad origin story and a glorious record of accomplishment. It was the company’s first Le Mans winner, but a bloodthirsty one at that.
Designing the car resulted in substantial losses for Porsche. Earlier prototypes were infamously hard to keep on track, and one claimed the life of racing driver John Wolfe during the very first lap of the world’s greatest endurance race.
A partnership with JWA Gulf proved just the right decision for Porsche, however, and the next model – the 917K – had a completely different rear end with regard to aerodynamics. As a result, the short-tailed Porsche stayed on track and handled much, much better than its predecessor. It ultimately won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, too.
Artist Heidi Mraz decided to commemorate that victory and laid out an image of the famous racecar using colorful paper butterflies.