With a 6.2-liter V8 producing 495 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque, the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is no slouch. More powerful Z06 and ZR1 variants are on the way, but former Lotus CEO Dany Bahar clearly couldn't wait. Bahar is the CEO of Ares Design, a coachbuilder that builds bespoke one-off and resurrects iconic supercars with a modern twist. Take the Ares Panther, for example. It's based on a Lamborghini Huracan dressed in bespoke bodywork that pays homage to the De Tomaso Panther.

Its latest project is called the Ares S Project, a sleek supercar with a bespoke body based on the aluminum chassis from the mid-engine C8 Corvette. It also utilizes the Corvette's 6.2-liter V8, which is said to produce 705 horsepower at 6,450 rpm, and 715 lb-ft of torque at 5,150 rpm, and scream its way up to 9,000 rpm.

That's over 200 more ponies than the standard C8 Corvette, but the modifications are being kept a closely guarded secret, if the specs are actually true. Power is allegedly sent through the C8 Corvette's eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox.

"That remains a secret between our supplier in the USA and us. It's all mechanical modifications though, you can't do this through software," Bahar told Top Gear. "The sound it makes takes inspiration from old F1 V10s, very high tonality."

This suggests the Ares S Project could be using the same flat-plane crank V8 expected in the new Z06, which sounds a lot like a Ferrari 488 GTB. The custom C8 Corvette certainly looks striking, with its low-slung design, massive fenders, and a roof scoop. And do we see a little bit of Bugatti Chiron in the back? No, there's a LOT of Bugatti Chiron in the back. It looks nothing like a C8 Corvette, and that's a deliberate design decision.

There's also a unique interior, although no images of the cabin have been released yet. When the interior of the Ares S Project eventually comes into the light, however, don't expect to find many C8 resemblances.

"We are not a car company that needs to develop technology if there's already much better items out there to buy off the shelf," said Bahar. "You take something and simply work like a plastic surgeon and change everything that you can touch and see, every button - our objective is you should have no idea it's a C8 underneath."

Ares Design plans to build just 24 examples of S Project within two years. Each example will cost a whopping €500,000 ($594,375). More versions of the S Project will follow, along with two other more affordable sports cars based on the C8 Corvette. We can hardly wait.