Porsche runs Apple-inspired 963 livery

Sports-car racing does this better than almost anyone — it turns paint into news. This weekend at Laguna Seca, Porsche Penske Motorsport put an Apple Computer-inspired throwback livery on both of its 963 hybrid prototypes, pulling a rainbow-striped design from a 1980 Porsche 935 K3 back into the spotlight. The timing was the point. Porsche is marking 75 years of motorsport in 2026, and Apple is marking 50 years since its founding. But the funny part is that the retro look became one of the biggest talking points even though Cadillac, not Porsche, grabbed pole for the race. ### What exactly did Porsche bring back? Porsche didn’t invent a random Apple-themed paint job for social media. The design is a direct nod to the Apple-sponsored Porsche 935 K3 run by Dick Barbour Racing in 1980, including its rainbow striping and period Apple Computer branding. For Laguna Seca, Porsche translated that look onto both factory 963s — the No. 6 and No. 7 cars — as a one-race special. ### Why Apple? Because this is really an anniversary crossover. Porsche said the livery was meant to celebrate two milestones landing in the same year — Porsche Motorsport turning 75 and Apple turning 50. That gives the whole thing a cleaner logic than a normal heritage tribute. It’s not just “remember this old race car.” It’s “these two brands shared a weird little motorsport connection, and now both anniversaries line up in 2026.” ### Why does the 935 matter so much? The 935 is one of Porsche’s great shape-shifting race cars — wildly successful, instantly recognizable, and easy to mythologize. The specific 935 K3 in question mattered because it carried Apple branding in major events during the 1980 season, including Le Mans. So Porsche was noteworthy. ### Why do this at Laguna Seca? Because Laguna Seca gave Porsche a perfect stage. The May 3 IMSA round is a high-visibility U.S. event, Apple is an American company, and the paddock already leaned into throwback liveries for the weekend. Basically, the setting made the tribute legible at a glance — even if you didn’t know the full backstory, you could tell this was heritage theater on purpose. ### Did the livery change anything on track? No — it changed attention, not speed. Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing stayed quickest in qualifying, with Louis Delétraz taking the Motul Pole Award in the No. 40 Cadillac V-Series.R on a 1:13.221 lap. Jack Aitken made it an all-Cadillac front row in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen entry. So Porsche won the visual battle, but Cadillac won the stopwatch battle before Sunday’s race. ### Why do teams care so much about liveries? Because in endurance racing, the car itself is part billboard, part identity, part memory machine. A good livery can do what a normal press release can’t — make casual fans stop scrolling and make longtime fans feel like they’re seeing history rhyme. This one did the same. ### Is this a bigger Porsche-Apple partnership? Not from what’s been announced. This looks like a one-off race-weekend collaboration tied to the anniversaries and the historical 935 reference, not the start of some broad factory program. The power of the story is actually its specificity — one old sponsor relationship, one famous paint scheme, one modern race weekend. ### Bottom line? Porsche’s Apple-inspired 963s worked because they weren’t just pretty. They told a precise story — 1980 to 2026, 935 to 963, Apple Computer to Apple at 50 — and they did it in a form motorsport fans instantly understand. Cadillac may have started the weekend at the front, but Porsche absolutely owned the conversation.