These official design sketches reveal Ex-Caterham boss Ansar Ali's vision for his new Project E10 sports car.
Produced under the Zenos brand, the E10 is based around a Lotus Elise-sized platform, with a Ford-supplied 197bhp 2.0-litre engine mounted in the middle producing 155lb ft of torque. The engine will be mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. Altogether, Ali hopes the E10 will weigh 650kg.
The direct-injection engine is a newer generation of the HE420 Duratec unit used by, among others, Caterham. More powerful, supercharged variants of the car are also planned for the future.
The E10's bodywork is built around a single aluminium 'backbone' extrusion with a tub made from carbon composites. Zenos says this style of architecture delivers better torsional rigidity as well as helping to keep the overall weight down - essential for Ali to acheive his goal of a power-to-weight ratio of more than 300bhp per tonne.
Speaking to Autocar, Ali said the car is a "road-legal, but track-focused, step-in two-seater.
"We think we have quite an exciting proposition to provide to a modest number of enthusiasts. We want to deliver something that's very specific, but exciting, engaging and fun."
Funding for the car has been granted through the Niche Vehicle Network, which is backed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Zenos has at least two other designs planned, with the E11, an open-top model, planned for 2016 and the E12 coupé penned for 2018.
The E10 is set to target the likes of the Vühl 05, KTM X-Bow and Caterham's Seven 620R, and will launch next year. Pricing for the model has not yet been announced.
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What Caterham need is,
A car that is even lighter and simpler than the current seven. But with modern design, and quality.
They should learn from the success of the new Morgan three wheeler.
If Caterham decides to plunge in to one of those sports car markets competing against Lotus or Porsche, they just won't make it.
A good example is the Caterham 21.
rocketscience wrote: A car
If Caterham want to go modern but keep their traditions they should wait for the Exige to be replaced and work their wonders on that or go for a Series 2 Elise. They could even dig up the old Vauxhall VX220 to keep costs down. All the options are under 950kg and would fly around a track with a decent amount of bhp at it's disposal as well as being useable when there's a little bit of rain...
how many rivals?
Seems like there's a huge number of rivals in this marketplace at the mid price point: Lotus, Caterham, Westfield, Radical, Ariel, Ginetta, KTM, now Vuhl, (and probably plenty more I can't remember) not to mention all the kit cars like Ultima, but are there really that many customers for a £50k trackday toy, even if the recession is supposedly over?
Funny this, but?
But, the last two are fine, the first...?....X-Bow anyone?