On the way to Hilton Head Island this past week, we stopped by the North Carolina Museum of Art which is hosting “Porsche by Design: Seducing Speed” through January 20, 2014. The show presents 22 Porsche automobiles going back to 1938 including the 1949 356 Gmuend Coupe (above) as well as Steve McQueen’s 356 Speedster and Janis Joplin’s art car. The collection includes 5 cars from the Porsche museum — a first for a North American exhibition — including the single ugliest Porsche Prototype we’ve ever seen.

This car was presented to Ferry Porsche as a birthday present in 1989. Sort of the ugly sweater your aunt gave you, he drove it a few times and then found a safe place to “preserve” it in the museum. The coolest feature of this car was the Porsche Crest tread pattern in the tires.

Steve McQueen’s 356 Cabriolet is still owned by his son, Chad.

And the Janis Joplin car is very, er…. unique. I guess if you can’t recall the Summer of Love, you just don’t get it.

I enjoyed seeing the 917K, 962C, and IROC RSR race cars, but my favorite car of the show was the 1963 901 Prototype that started the life of the 911.

The full set of photos from the show is here on Flickr.