This Lykan Supercar Was Frankensteined From Fiberglass and Porsche Parts. Now It’s up for Auction.
You know those used car listings that claim “no stories,” where a vehicle is of such faultless history and pure lineage that it requires no qualification? Well, this isn’t one of those cars.
This particular story goes like this: When VINwiki founder Ed Bolian was hunting down a blown-up Lamborghini Murcielago V-12 powerplant to create a “steampunk chandelier” for his garage, he found a seller who was willing to throw in the body shell of a Lykan Hypersport.
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The aggressively named Lebanese supercar is manufactured by UAE-based W Motors, and rose to prominence after being featured in Fast and Furious 7. Only 7 of the original cars exist in total; this particular shell was not used in the film, but was intended for use in a Fast and Furious live show.
Since the real deal Hypersport was based on a Boxster chassis and modified by Ruf, Bolian and his cohort Casey Putsch of Genius Garage hunted down a 2007 Porsche Boxster S as a donor car so they could mate the bodywork to a functioning chassis. The build process was documented in this YouTube playlist, and as Putsch puts it, “This will never be a Porsche Boxster again.”
Genius Garage
The story takes a human interest twist when we get to the workforce used to painstakingly Frankenstein the fiberglass body onto the Porsche platform (which no doubt required stretching, shimmying, and squeezing in order to connect the disparate mechanical dots): Putsch’s Genius Garage utilized engineering students, whose practical experience on the project gave them an unusual perspective on what makes a functioning automobile tick. W Motors guided the team on how to make all those mismatched parts fit together, and its CEO provided a letter and a commemorative roof plaque.
While Putsch says the car “drives perfectly,” he also discloses a few caveats like a check engine light, a tire pressure warning light, and an off-road-use only stipulation. The car is currently for sale on Bring a Trailer, with proceeds going to Genius Garage, which is a 501 C3 nonprofit with a self-described mission of “bridging the gap between academia and industry to help kickstart the careers of college engineering students.”
The ersatz Hypersport has already reached a six-figure price on Bring a Trailer—not quite the original Lykan’s $3.6 million value, but still significant considering its convoluted provenance. Putsch says, “Histories and stories are what set great cars apart from historic cars. This car definitely has an awesome story.”
Click here to see all the photos of the Lykan Hypersport Supercar.
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