Yamaha made an announcement last October proclaiming it was officially done with cars and will instead stick with designing and building engines, along with musical instruments. That was a shame because the company's previous concept projects included the likes of the Sports Ride, a lightweight two-seater that debuted back in 2015 and was styled by none other than McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray.

Murray had been looking for a partner to utilize his iStream carbon fiber production process and Yamaha was apparently interested. Unfortunately, those plans changed. Or did they?

Cybertruck Talk has managed to get ahold of EU IP images filed back in 2018 showing what appears to be an updated, more refined and roadworthy-looking Sports Ride coupe. What's more, there appears to be some crucial design changes. Can you spot them? Take note of the newly closed-off front grille and lack of exhaust pipes. What could this mean? A possible switch to an all-electric powertrain. We wouldn't necessarily describe it as a second-gen Tesla Roadster rival, but it could certainly do battle against the rumored all-electric Porsche 718 Cayman.

Then again, these patent images do date back a couple of years and Yamaha has since stated its departure from the car building scene. Could this project have reached the patent filing phase but was later halted? It's definitely possible.

Remember, Gordon Murray just revealed his T.50 hypercar last December as well, so it's clear he's moved to other projects as well. The images you're looking at are now available to the public and, more than likely, they simply show something that could have been and likely never will be. The car business is not easy, a fact Yamaha clearly understands.

Unfortunately, the previously shown concept and these patent images are probably the last we'll ever see of this project.