Christmas is still seven months away, but if you’re a fan of Rezvani and its collection of performance cars, the company has an early holiday present for you. The 2018 Rezvani Beast Alpha that the automaker announced would cost $200,000 when the car made its debut at the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show isn’t going to cost that much after all. In fact, it’s not even going to cost half that price with Rezvani announcing the entry-level sports car will start at $95,000.

The California-based automaker didn’t say why the Beast Alpha’s price went down precipitously, but I don’t foresee anybody complaining about it too much. What we do know is that certain elements of the sports car have changed ever since its debut in Los Angeles that can be tied into the price-drop. Arguably the most important of these changes is the car’s engine. The initial plan was to use a Honda-sourced 2.4-liter supercharged engine that produces 500 horsepower. Now it looks like that engine has been replaced with a 2.5-liter supercharged Bosworth engine that “only” produces 400 horsepower. Granted, 400 ponies is still potent, but it’s not a coincidence the price for the car dropped when the power output decreased. It’s still unclear if the Beast Alpha underwent other changes that caused the price drop, but for what it’s worth, the hardtop coupe still looks largely similar to the model that was unveiled in Los Angeles.

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It's cheaper now, but it's also more spartan than it used to be

On the surface, it’s hard to picture why Rezvani decided to slash the price of the Beast Alpha, but according to the company’s press release, the less powerful engine isn’t the only reason behind the car getting priced at slightly under $100,000. Equally important in the surprising price reduction and all the standard features that have now become options. This includes the aforementioned SideWinder doors, which now come with a price of $10,000 instead of being included into the previous price tag of the hardtop sports coupe.

It’s not just the SideWinder doors either. The carbon fiber body that was initially touted on the sports car is also now an option for a price of $20,000. The standard model now comes with a fiberglass body instead. Other important options for the sports car include the six-speed sequential paddle shift transmission that tacks on an extra $15,000. Carbon ceramic brakes cost $8,500 while the AP racing brakes, sport leather seats, a full leather interior, and an Alpine Apple CarPlay Unit each cost between $3,500 to $3,700. Do the math on all the options that Rezvani is now offering on the Beast Alpha and the cost adds up to $74,225.

Regardless of its price and the new options that are available to the sports coupe, the Rezvani Beast Alpha’s appeal is still largely tied to its power and performance capabilities, or as CEO Ferris Rezvani claims, its status as a “Porsche killer.” Fortunately, the new engine doesn’t rob too much power out of the sports coupe. It may have 100 less horsepower (400 horses total) than what was initially announced, but it’s still potent enough to sprint to 60 mph in just 3.5 seconds. That’s 0.3 seconds slower than with the Honda-sourced supercharged engine, but it can still get the job done from a performance perspective.

And if the cheaper-than-expected Beast Alpha doesn’t cut it anymore, Rezvani does have the $159,000 Beast Alpha X and its 535-horsepower, 2.5-liter supercharged engine. At least that's a car that has the power to back up its name and price tag.

Read our full review on the Rezvani Beast Alpha here.