The more recent Fast & Furious films are famous for their physics-defying automotive stunts, from skydiving cars, to a Dodge Charger towing a bank vault in a police chase. One of the most memorable stunts was in Furious 7, in which Dominic Toretto smashed a $3.5-million hypercar through several skyscrapers in Dubai.

The film introduced audiences to the exotic W Motorsports Lykan Hypersport, the first-ever Middle-Eastern hypercar featuring a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged flat-six producing 780 horsepower and headlights embedded with diamonds. Only seven were produced and with a $3.4-million price tag, not very many people had the opportunity to own one. So these guys are building their own.

Casey Putsch from Genius Garage, a non-profit educational charity that provides engineering experience for students, managed to acquire a Lykan Hypersport replica that was originally built for the Fast & Furious Live show but was sold after the show's production company went bankrupt in 2018.

The replica was built to be fired out of a cannon in the show as a homage to the skyscraper stunt and is just a fiber glass shell built around a crude wooden frame. It isn't functional, but the team at Genius Garage wants to change that. How? By adding components from a dismantled 2007 Porsche Boxster S. Unsurprisingly, the project won't be as easy as that. The wheelbase of the Lykan Hypersport is longer than the Boxster, so the team has had to move the engine, transmission, and suspension unit towards the rear.

Casey has been documenting the ambitious build project in a series of videos on his YouTube channel. Now that the body is loosely installed, the latest video shows us the next stage of the project, installing components such as a Soul Performance exhaust to make the car run. Genius Garage aims to showcase the completed car at this year's SEMA show in October.

The custom Porsche-based Lykan Hypersport is even endorsed by W Motors, as the company contacted Genius Garage saying they are happy to help with the project and answer any technical or build specifications questions.

"This is a breath of fresh air," said Putsch. "I bet that there are some supercar manufacturers out there that would not be so kind and welcoming to everybody being a part of their world. I am so touched that they think what we are doing is complimentary to the incredible art, craftsmanship and legacy they have already created. W Motors contacted me because they saw what I was doing with the Genius Garage and have also expressed interested in hiring our students. It is exciting that people in the United Arab Emirates from such an incredible car company can still be so in touch with people in reality. It just makes me more excited to continue this build with the students."