Porsche redesigned its entire lineup over the last years and even introduced special models like the 935. But it's still missing a full-fledged supercar. The 918 Spyder was discontinued in 2015 after only 918 units built and Porsche has yet to confirm a successor. But a set of leaked pattent images hint that the German firm is indeed working on one. And it looks a lot like the 917 Concept from 2019.

The successor to the Porsche 918 Spyder is inspired by the 917 Concept

The first thing you notice when looking at these patent images unearthed by Autovisie is that the supercar looks decidedly aggressive. And that it doesn't feature the usual layout of most road-going supercars.

What's more, the rear fascia is just a massive cutout with a diffuser at the bottom and a wing at the top.

But you'll also notice that it looks familiar. To understand why, you need to have a look at the 917 Concept that Porsche introduced in 2019. Essentially a tribute to the old 917 race car that brought Porsche its first win at Le Mans, the 917 Concept is basically a simpler version of the supercar shown in these images. But while the 917's front splitter and the rear end aren't as aggressive, the overall shape is pretty much identical. It seems that those rumors claiming the 917 Concept will preview the next Porsche hypercar were more than speculation.

The successor to the Porsche 918 Spyder will still feature a gasoline engine

There's been talk about whether Porsche's upcoming hypercar will be a hybrid or an all-electric machine. Well, these patent images confirm that the supercar will still pack a gasoline engine. The hints are visible in the rear in the form of two exhaust pipes.

There's no word as to what engine might power this race-ready beast, but the configuration should be similar to the 918 Spyder with two electric motors paired to the gas mill.

The 918 Spyder came with a whopping 887 horsepower and 940 pound-feet of torque on top and Porsche needs to top that to justify production costs and the expensive sticker it will have.

Porsche supercars are rare birds

Porsche has been making some of the best sports cars out there for decades now, but its presence in the supercar realm has been rather limited. The 918 Spyder was built in just 918 units from 2013 to 2015 and its predecessor wasn't long-lived either. Launched in 2003, the Carrera GT was produced until 2007, with 1,270 units rolled off the Leipzig assembly line.

Before that, Porsche built the 911 GT1 Strassenversion. Developed in order to homologate a race car for the GT1 category, this street-legal supercar was built in just 23 examples from 1996 to 1998. The 959 is considered Porsche's first supercar, simply because it was one of the fastest and most powerful vehicles on the market when it arrived in 1986. Fewer than 350 units were built until 1993 with the most powerful version getting 508 horsepower.

As we can see, Porsche needed between three to eight years to deliver a new supercar, so maybe the successor to the 918 Spyder, discontinued five years ago as of 2020, is just around the corner.