Marvel at this Lotus Exige running on Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG power

With the introduction of the Lotus Emira in July, the British sports car maker sent three of its older models to retirement at once: the Evora, the Elise and the Exige. The latter two received proper farewell editions, but none came close to what this custom example from South Africa can do.

Tuner Quentin Boylan decided to see whether he could transplant the engine of his yellow Exige for a much more powerful 6.2-liter V8 borrowed from a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. The original mill pumped out around 380 PS (375 hp / 279 kW), while the new one could hit the wheels with 600 PS (592 hp / 441 kW) – at least, in theory. In practice, it required redesigning the whole chassis and body.

This is exactly what Boylan did. The project took five years to complete, but the result was a unique supercar built nearly from scratch. Amazingly enough, it looks like the stock seven-speed DCT worked just fine in tandem with the mighty Mercedes heart.

Asked about the involved costs, Quentin was laconic: he did not bother to count, and did not feel like ever doing it, either. We can just about imagine how much an undertaking like this can cost.

Watch the video where Africa’s baddest Lotus shows itself off on the racetrack.