The digital cars of Chris Labrooy are still fanciful fun

You might have noticed photos of some weird swan car built out of a Porsche 996 circulating on social media this week. Porsche is currently showing the art car in their display at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas this week. It’s the work of artist Chris Labrooy, who went viral in 2016 with his digital art featuring bizarrely stretched-out Japanese automotive icons like the AE86, NSX, Hako, and S30 Z.

Since then he’s gotten heavy into Porsches and his art has evolved as well, but there’s still a some JDM goodness in his work. Turning cars into giant pool toys is a recurring theme. The cars are first de-wheeled and the interiors gutted. Then a giant inflatable animal is stuffed through the shell. He’s created Porsche ducks, camels, rabbits, and flamingos. But the JZA80 he’s imagined is called the Wagyu Beef Toyota Supra.

Another of Labrooy’s recent concoctions is a Nissan GT-R with an appropriate blow-up Godzilla taking the seat. The ballooned base in this case resemble tank treads. All of Labrooy’s inflatable animal works are digital except for the swan car commissioned by Porsche, but I would totally buy this if it were made into a real bath toy or diecast car.

Not all of Labrooy’s art has to do with floaty toys. Other recent works include an R34 hovercar (our second hovercar this week!) with some bosozoku undertones and an S30 Fairlady Z that seems quite difficult to wash.

It’s not clear what message Labrooy is trying to send with his art, if there is any. We’re not saying there needs to be. Sometimes being able to see very serious cars in a new, whimsical light is a good enough reason to do it.