Do you know how fashion is a cyclic affair? What was trendy some decades ago comes back to the highest peaks of popularity? Well, in the car industry, this sort of thing sometimes happens for old reports.

Take the one claiming that BMW is looking to build a rival for the Porsche 911. It was floated on the Internet back in 2016, together with the info that the 6 Series will be phased out to make room for the new 8 Series. So far, only the 6 Series-8 Series swap found fruition, but we’re getting some signals that a BMW-badged rival for the 911 isn’t something Munich will vote against.

More precisely, BMW Group design chief Adrian van Hooydonk had a chat with U.K.’s Autocar and admitted that a 6 Series-badged rival for the esteemed Porsche 911 is “a nice idea” and that “maybe we should work on that.”

Now, don’t get your hopes up, but here’s the thing. We don’t believe in coincidences, however, it was only recently that in Supercar Blondie video, BMW’s Domagoj Dukec stated that BMW could build the 3.0 CSL Hommage R, provided the right buyer profile existed.} At the same time, we’re not the kind to weave future plots that might never materialize, but hear us out: what better car to do battle against the 911 than one that pays its respects to one of BMW’s most successful race cars, itself based on the rare gem that is the 3.0 CSL?

The 3.0 CSL Hommage, although just a prototype for now, is also properly set up to take on the 911. A 3.0-liter, twin-turbo inline-six assisted by an e-motor cranks out in the region of 500 horsepower sent to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic borrowed from the BMW 4 Series. And let’s face it: the 6 Series never benefited from the lightness and nimbleness required to beat the 911, but something closely related to the Hommage R concept might bag those attributes.

For the sake of the argument, the 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S has a 3.0-liter flat-six slapped with two turbos for a grand total of 443 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque sent to the rear wheels through a PDK transmission. Take a look again at the power rating: it’s not far from the BMW concept’s figures, is it?

2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S specifications

Of course, the topic of a 911-rivalling sports car, especially coming from BMW, is a hot topic regardless of how you look at it, so we’ll definitely keep an eye on this one in the future.