Swizz Beatz unveils new 180mph Lotus supercar

It is the music producer's first project since he was appointed 'vice president of creative design' at the luxury British car company in August 2011.

Beatz's special-edition Evora GTE has a muscular-looking body with a chrome and ruby red paint job and some flashy upgrades.

It has a top speed of 180mph and will do 0-60 in 4.5 seconds. With a mega 3.5-litre V6 engine producing 438bhp it is the most powerful Lotus road car ever.

Also, thanks to generous use of carbonfibre, the slinky sports car weighs 105kg less than the standard Evora.

Beatz, 33, unveiled the hardcore road racer during a star-studded New York party with his wife Alicia Keys, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and the fresh-from-prison rapper T.I.

Five of his Lotus cars were made and 'they all sold almost immediately,' says Lotus Rep Liz Brooks.

'Price was on request,' she added, saying that the regular GTE costs between £130,000 - £150,000.

The Grammy-award winning producer is famously business savvy and has partnered with other brands such as Reebok, Kidrobot and Christian Louboutin in the past.

'My goal is to become the Renaissance man for my generation,' he said.

Speaking about the collaboration with Beatz Lotus CEO Danny Bahar told Forbes magazine: 'Swizz is almost trying to do something never done before in the car industry, which is traditionally a boring, not a very courageous industry.'