Zenos Cars approached Drive because of our experience designing vehicles for niche vehicle manufacturers. As a startup, Zenos had an ambitious business plan to design and build a range of cars. The first being a mid-engined track focussed, road going performance car, built around a recycled carbon fibre monocoque with a target price of £25,000.
At the outset, founders Ansar Ali and Mark Edwards, explained their unique market proposition with a few key words that would define their brand : Belonging, Thrill and Intelligence. Our responsibility was to completely understand their ethos and create a design language that would embody all of their aspirations, for a completely new British sports car brand.
THRILL AND INTELLIGENCE
The challenge was achieving the delicate balance between a friendly, approachable look and fitting the brand values with a thrilling, lightweight track day car. With affordability in mind, we felt compelled to highlight the innovation of the recycled carbon composite material and reflect this intelligence of the styling. The break up of panels, wings and tub allowed the ease of production by minimising visible panel gaps, and could afford customers lower repair costs compared to a traditional single clam moulding. A huge benefit given the target use. In addition, the choice of these materials removed a significant production process (paint) helping Zenos achieve their target production costs.
