Porsche Developing New 960 Mid-Engine Supercar?

Porsche has staked its claim on the name ‘960’, trademarking the three number sequence to spawn a possible new breed of mid-engine sports car that, as Car Magazine reports, could rival the likes of the Ferrari 488 GTB, Lamborghini Huracan, Audi R8, and McLaren 650S.

As far as timelines go, the report says that the patent application was approved in September 2015, and the project it was linked to had been pushed to 2019. However, the recent interest comes from a question posed by the publication to which a Porsche spokesperson slipped some rather telling words:

The full quote reads: “‘There’s not been much on the topic of new models but, if you look, there are blank spots in our range – and you have to look at what the competition is doing and keep these things in mind. Pragmatically, with our production cycle running as it is, we know where we are in the current model cycles – and there’s a lot to do at the moment. We’re very busy.”

Putting two and two together, a rational person would be led to the conclusion that the 960 would be that car to fill that blank spot. One could argue how it’s perhaps an outspoken minority who are fussing about Porsche’s lack of direct answer to those cars (488 GTB, Huracan etc) but, in reality, the Stuttgart automaker doesn’t seem to be hurting from it in the least.

Still, the prospect of a mid-engine Porsche slotted between the new 718 Cayman and the 918 Spyder hypercar is a very enticing prospect, more powerful and capable than the former but more accessible than the latter. Especially if, should the speculation prove to be an accurate bet, the future 960’s performance is higher even than the 911 Turbo.

Speculation is a slippery slope however, and there has been talk of it being a four-wheel drive sports car as standard with a twin-turbo flat-eight engine, a Veyron-chasing 100km/h sprint time, and there being more hardcore versions introduced along its life cycle.

But we’re not as confident about saying anything about a future Porsche. And anyway, should it be an actual project that’s in the works, they should be just as eager to make some kind of announcement as we are to hear about it. Perhaps as early as late 2016?