Growing up, I was a full-on Legomaniac. Once, I even entered a competition, which I promptly won. But this was years before my interest in cars grew into the fervent passion it now is. Needless to say, for me, the worlds of Lego and cars never really merged. Apparently they did for the Australian engineer known as Peter Blackert, also known as Lego911. He has recreated, in miniature Lego form, some of the most iconic sheetmetal of all time.

My favourite work of art in his collection has to be the Gulf-liveried Porsche 917K. In real life (as opposed to Lego life), the 917 has several iterations including the Kurzheck (K), Langheck (LH), 917/10, and 917/30. Each different sub-model differed in the length of their tails and the number of horsepower but all cars featured Porsche’s first and last flat-twelve engine (click here for more on Porsche’s unique flat engines). These cars were endurance racers of the highest pedigree, notching victories at the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans, and overall victories in the 1972 and 1973 Can-Am series. The 917/30 dominated the ’73 Can-Am series by winning all but one race, but it also holds the distinction of being the most powerful sports car ever built and raced with 1,580 hp against a weight of only 1,800 lbs (816 kg). Ya, believe it.

Now, immortalized in vividly detailed Lego is the 917K. Enjoy the gallery below!

[Photo credit: Lego911/Flikr]