Don’t count on it being fully electric a’la Taycan, though.
Porsche has some exciting things ahead for its all-new hypercar, which should be due at a point well beyond the turn of the next decade. Succeeding the venerated 918 Spyder will not be an easy task, but the automaker seems to also be equally keen to evoke its sterling history in motorsports with their next ultimate machine.
A little while ago, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 917, the company released a single image of the 917 Concept alongside restored examples of the original racer that won the marque titles at Le Mans and elsewhere. The concept is a design study what a modern day interpretation of that car’s spirit would be, and surely enough soon sparked speculation about whether it could the first faint foreshocks to a full-blown production hypercar.
Speaking with Autocar, Michael Mauer, Porsche’s head of design, says that his team and the company at large are still mulling whether or not the successor to the 918 Spyder should be styled to be futuristic or adopt a more retro look. Judging how fleshed out the 917 Concept seems to be at this point, not to mention how beautiful, it’s safe to assume the ‘retro’ argument does have its outspoken proponents.
“If you launch a new hypercar then you can go extremely modern in your thinking or maybe just go back to our sports car roots and take inspiration from some of the many icons in our history. When you look at the 917 Concept then, personally, I love it. You look at it and you immediately make the connections. But as a designer who believes that the next hypercar should point to the future, I’m not so sure. There is always the option to look into history, but sometimes you can also take the option to create some history.”
Ever since the Porsche 959, the Zuffenhausen sports car specialists have built an expectation around themselves to deliver a flash-forward hyper-flagship every so often. While not always technically portending the future of automobiles, such as was the case with the beguiling Carrera GT, the 918 Spyder certainly opened new avenues in harnessing electrification in pursuit of high performance.
At the time of its launch, Ferrari and McLaren were also working along similar lines in, culminating in a triumvirate of hybrid hypercars. And as the world marches toward higher degrees of electrification, it is also quickly discovering that fast cars are becoming more commonplace as batteries get bigger and acceleration times plummet.
Creating a hypercar that continues to thrill, however, is much less a matter of raw performance numbers, but the visceral experiences along the way, and so far the case has only gotten stronger for internal combustion. Indeed, Oliver Blume, CEO of Porsche, has confirmed that the development of the 918 Spyder’s replacement has surrounded its powertrain, hinting that it will more than likely be a hybrid instead of fully electric like the upcoming Taycan.
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