It looks like there could be some supercar (or new sports car) cogs turning over at Porsche. Maybe, if you take a recent patent Porsche filed seriously. A member at the TaycanEVForums discovered that Porsche filed and was granted a patent with the European Union Intellectual Property Office for a design of a new sports car not currently in Porsche’s lineup

One look at the images associated with this patent will instantly remind you of the Le Mans Living Legend design study (below) that was only just revealed late last year. The vehicles look nearly identical in proportions and design details alike. Photos of the car in the patent make it look like an awkwardly elongated and flattened 911, but the real-life car that Porsche put together for its design study is significantly better looking with a more cohesive overall look.

It’s intriguing to see that Porsche just filed for the patent now. Whether or not this will lead to an actual production car is anybody’s guess. Car companies file for patents of things all the time that don’t result in any sort of a production vehicle. Seeing as how Porsche has thought this one out enough to release photos of a design study, there could be something brewing here.

Porsche doesn’t make many supercars. The most recent two are the Carrera GT and 918 Spyder. If built, this car looks like it could fall into a similar limited-run hypercar/supercar category. As for the possible powertrain, the Le Mans Living Legend Concept is powered by an eight cylinder engine. It’s hard to imagine Porsche developing a brand-new V8 or horizontally-opposed eight-cylinder engine today, but it’s worth pointing out the possibility. A more likely scenario would be to leapfrog off the 918’s hybrid powertrain, use a smaller combustion engine and develop a stronger electric portion of the powertrain.

If the car ever does get made, we hope the gullwing-style doors stick around. At this stage, we haven’t spied any Porsches with a design looking like this one, but we have no idea where Porsche might be in the process, if any engineering process has even begun. Now that Porsche has half showed its hand with the patent, though, we’ll be on the lookout for an extra sleek sports car from Stuttgart.

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