The Art Of Murdered Charlie Hebdo Cartoonist Once Graced Race Cars

By  Stef Schrader

One of the satirical cartoonists killed in yesterday's Charlie Hebdo shooting, Georges Wolinski, also applied his skills to several racing art cars throughout the years. The most famous of these cars was this Porsche 911 GT2 campaigned by Elf Haberthur Racing.

Georges Wolinski had a long career in cartooning starting in 1958, and quickly built a name for himself in political and satirical cartoons. He served as editor of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine known for pushing the envelope, from 1961 to 1970.

This 993-generation 911, too, with its depictions of French kissing and boobs boobs boobs, was no exception to the outrageous style Wolinski was known for. It cleverly placed the lovely ladies atop a sky blue tile roof pattern, presumably for tile-producing sponsor Tuiles TBF.

The car also features the most clever use of the space where a sunroof would typically go that I've ever seen on a racing livery. I'm so used to seeing sunroofs on cars that the window just looks like it belongs in that space.

The car even featured a decal of a resting cat on the back window, meant to look like it was curled up behind where the rear seats would go.

Here is what the Automobile Club de l'Ouest had to say about the car, which was decorated as a one-off for 1998:

In its own daring and provocative way, Charlie Hebdo also contributed to the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1998, Georges Wolinski, one of the 12 victims of the attack at the paper's offices yesterday, created an Art Car: the No. 68 Porsche 911 GT2, driven by Hervé Poulain, Jean-Luc Maury-Laribière and Eric Graham. They finished in 20th place.

Another photo of the car by Christophe Bastin shows the car in a pit stop, and details of the livery can be seen on this model of the car here.

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