Engine swaps are nothing new, but when you need to cut your Lotus clean in half, extend it 510mm and widen it by 360mm, you know things have possibly gotten a little out of hand.
It takes a special kind of crazy to not only think this up, but have the ability to pull it off successfully. Mad Canadian Dustin Anthony has spent the better part of a decade designing and building his own one-off supercar, the Monivetti Era.
Based on a Lotus Exige, the chassis has been extended using a tube frame, and widened to accommodate the BMW S85 V10 engine as seen in the 2005 BMW M5 and M6. Even in those cars it was a wild idea, let alone in a feather-weight Exige.
Mated to a Porsche GT3 transaxle, the vehicle lays down 550hp naturally aspirated, with hopes to supercharge the German power-plant up to an eye watering 760hp.
All said and done, with the bigger, heavier driveline and extended chassis, the car weighs in at a meagre 1270kg.
Dustin revised the car from the ground-up, with customised suspension, brakes, driveline and even completely new body panels with functional aero.
Although the project was undertaken some time back in 2014, Dustin says the aim for final completion is somewhere later this year, bringing a close to the near decade long project. But, are projects every really finished? I am sure there will be tweaks and changes to the platform over the coming years.
Regardless, this is truly an impressive feat. We can’t wait to see the finished product!
Check out the video below, be sure to have sound on!
When asked about the project, Dustin mentions:
“I can’t believe I took a Lotus Elise at the age of 23 years old and just cut it in half… told people I’m going to drop a V10 in it and build a whole new body with no real knowledge on how to do literally any of it… and I used to get upset that people called me dumb, crazy, or said I’d never finish it.“
“Looking back… that looked dumb, was crazy, and well, I had it finished, but still a work in progress. I guess the moral of the story is. If you have a dream, and no one believes in it, not even yourself sometimes… just go for it, what’s the worst that could happen? You fail? You learn from your failures? You become better? Become smarter? You are the only one holding yourself back. You can build your dreams into reality. No more excuses.”
You can follow Dustin’s journey on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/monivetti/
