We wouldn’t be surprised if Jay Leno has driven more cars than anyone else on the planet, but even he is still thoroughly impressed with the Beast from American sports car startup Rezvani. It’s the Ariel Atom-based, carbon fiber-bodied mean machine with a power-to-weight ratio that’s more superbike than supercar.

On the latest episode of his online series Jay Leno’s Garage, Leno is greeted by Rezvani founder Ferris Rezvani and a 500-horsepower, 1,650-pound Beast. In the clip, you learn a lot about Rezvani’s ambition and how the Beast came about.

You also learn that most existing Beast customers had no prior knowledge of the Ariel Atom. They’re mostly supercar owners seeking even more extreme performance than your typical Ferrari [NYSE:RACE] or Lamborghini. For the buying process, the customer works with Rezvani to order an Atom, which then comes in to a California workshop to be transformed into a Beast. 

The entry-level Beast is the Beast Speeder, which comes with 300 hp and a $139,000 starting price. The 500-hp Beast starts at $159,000, and above this there’s a 700-hp Beast X starting at $325,000. Rezvani plans to build just five examples of the latter.

For our own driving impressions, be sure to read our first drive of the Beast Speeder.

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