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seating position. We wanted to
ensure good vision and an aware-
ness of the corners of the car. It
was important to make sure the
line from crotch to steering wheel
and pedals was straight. There’s
no offset arrangement like you get
with some mid-engine cars. So
yeah - from wood.”
A GAP IN THE MARKET
The Zenos came about when
a team from Caterham saw the
firm’s move away from lightweight
sports cars and decided to capi-
talise on that gap in the market.
Edwards says: “When we were at
Caterham, there was an announce-
ment for five cars at Geneva that
famous year. We rubbed our hands
together as it showed they were
moving away from their core
market, which was affordable, fun,
lightweight sports cars. They were
opening up the market for us.
“We always knew the Caterham
had a limited life from a cosmet-
ic perspective. Many people still
recommend the iconic shape but a
newer blood and age don’t recog-
nise that status. While it’s a blast
to drive, cosmetically it doesn’t
suit their needs, so we always had
plans for Caterham to develop a
more contemporary vehicle that
would complement the Seven.”
While there was interest from
the get-go, the idea didn’t go
much further at Caterham. Ed-
wards says: “Tony [Fernandes]
had a change of heart and wanted
to aim for something grander with
a big supply chain and distribu-
tion network. We thought that was
too much of a step in one go so
we decided it wasn’t for us. There
was still a gap, though, as Cater-
ham, like Lotus, was moving away
from its original markets.
“It’s not a huge market but there
are people who want something
that’s not only affordable to buy
but also to own, as well as being
fun to drive. There is still a market
for that kind of stuff, which is why
we did it.”
Some people say Caterham
has become stagnant and hasn’t
moved forward in a long time
despite vying for new markets. In
spite of this and despite creating
the Zenos brand, Edwards still has
a soft spot for the cars he worked
so closely with. He says: “The bot-
T
he E10 was unveiled at
the Autosport show in
2013 as an affordable
sports car. Since then the E10 S
and the E10 R have been
launched. The E10 S is the flagship
road legal track day car from the
brand and is powered by a 2.0l
Ecoboost engine that pumps out
250 bhp – not bad for a car that
weighs just 725kg.
If you need more power, the E10
R takes things to the next level
with 350bhp moving a 700kg car.
This is the most affordable way to
join the 500bhp per tonne club, as
this top-of-the-range model costs
just £39,995.
Mark Edwards started out work-
ing for Lotus as a manufacturing
engineer but as the brand began
to change he was moved over to
the business side of things and
put through his MBA. This back-
ground and experience set him up
to create the Zenos brand.
The origins of the Zenos car are
certainly interesting, not least
because the first models were
made out of wood, as Edwards
explains: “We made the frame out
of wood from Jewson to make the