Lightweight Sports Car Maker Zenos Has Gone Into Administration
When we visited Zenos’ Norfolk-based factory over two years ago to have a poke around a prototype, we were full of hope for the young sports car company.
Its first car - the E10 - wasn’t some six figure supercar made of unobtainium and powered by an exotic engine. No, it was an affordable sports car with reliable Ford power and clever recycled carbon tub - a sort of modern interpretation of the Caterham Seven (the company was actually started by two ex Caterham employees) that seemed destined for greatness. Sadly, the company has now gone into administration.
This is a huge shame, as its products - the E10, E10 S and E10 R - are awesome. They’re fast, great to drive and a lot more useable than you’d think, a point we proved by driving an E10 S to the Nurburgring last year.
They were proving popular, too: Zenos announced it had built and sold its 100th car last September, that its entire 2016 allocation was sold out, and that few 2017 Q1 build slots were left. Following what the company has called a “downturn in trade” which included a series of cancelled orders, Zenos has ceased trading and called in the administrators.
In a statement from the company, Zenos managing director Mark Edwards said:
“It is with great disappointment that the board has had to take this step. We still believe that our products offer unrivalled affordable fun and we have already made very good progress in developing the next product in our strategy.”
Here’s hoping a buyer can be found, as it’s be a damn shame for Zenos’ story to end here.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
I was waiting for the coupe version…
Seems like it’s difficult being a start-up car company. You literally need tens of millions (possibly hundreds) in capital to get going, and you can’t make a mainstream car - it’s either got to be electric, less than 600kg, over 1000hp or several of these.
It’s extremely hard to become a start-up anything, really.
I mean, it’s not too hard. The design of three product is easy, and finding people who share your belief that your idea is worth buying into isn’t rocket science. The difficult part comes when you’ve sold out to your initial few backers/customers who had been following you since day one, and did not look at getting your message out Rapidly, good luck, because the money you made from sales covers the cost of building and operations.
There is a rumour that Caterham will take it over since they want a new model with a similar concept.
Real props to the lads for havin a go of it though innit good luck to em in the future. A last hurrah for zenos, cursed by the wicked Chris?
Nooooo! ZENOS is one of my dream cars! 😢
Just get a new age Miata, make it sharper and edgier, V8 swap it, rip off the windshield and roof, and there you go. An E10.
That’s not even remotely accurate.
Achievement Locked: Must develop Fast and Furious 9
What does administration mean, im american.
They have called in a team called the Administrators who will proceed to look for someone to buy the company. if they cannot, the Admins will sell off all the company assets one-by-one until all the debt is paid off.