Porsche patents the Porsche Le Mans Living Legend, a concept that could become reality

It was not long ago that Porsche left the world open-mouthed with the revelation of a series of prototypes and concepts that had never seen the light of day. Among them, we could see some cars that sadly never made it into production, but perhaps something bigger lies behind this move with no apparent intentions. The German brand has just patented the sketches of the Porsche Le Mans Living Legend, precisely one of the vehicles that was shown openly in November. Coincidence? We don’t think so.

The Stuttgart firm has decided to patent a series of sketches that, while not faithful to the concept shown to us three months ago, bear a strong resemblance to it. This doesn’t mean that Porsche is going to produce the Le Mans Living Legend, but they could use its design for inspiration or draw on it in full to create a special edition.

Let us remember that this concept was created to pay tribute to the Porsche 550 Coupé that competed in the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans. At the same time, it has also served as a starting point for developing the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, which is not unusual either considering that the Le Mans Living Legend is based on a Boxster, the convertible sibling of the Cayman.

Be that as it may, these patented sketches show some differences from the car Porsche showed us in November. The air intakes behind the driver’s door have now disappeared and been replaced by vertical slats, and the upper opening does not appear in the sketches either.

Otherwise, we still find a car that combines aspects of various members of the current Porsche range. For example, a rear end that recalls the 911 992, or a silhouette and a diffuser that quickly remind us of the aforementioned 718 Cayman GT4. However, rumours are already taking on a life of their own and pointing in two quite opposite directions.

Some suggest we are looking at the first stylistic steps of the successor to the Porsche 918 Spyder, due to arrive in 2024, while others stress that this design will actually be used to create a special edition of either the current 718 Boxster or the Cayman. Time will confirm or refute these assumptions, which for now are mere conjecture.