It seems that there is no corner of life that the recession hasn’t touched – even Bentley owners could be treated to a model that runs on used vegetable oil – and the supercar market is economising.
But now economy is coming flying out of the Midlands like a tiny orange bat out of hell, in the shape of a £40k car that goes faster than a £120k Ferrari F430 and gets to 60mph in less than four seconds.
The super-light two-seater Zolfe Orange is the result of a collaboration between Midlands businessman and car enthusiast Nic Strong and former Caterham Technical Director Jez Coates.
Specs and pictures from the company here.
Think a Lotus Elise that’s still spacious enough to take a 6ft 4in driver with a crash helmet on. Or a far better-styled Mazda MX5.
Other features that made us sit up and take notice include the fully-independent suspension, the near-perfect weight distribution between the front and rear ends and the combination of lightweight body with rigid chassis.
According to the Times review it’s set to retail at around £40,000 – so, while a long way from the everyday runaround market, it’s still a long way off the price range of your average supercar.
And, with British engineering through and through, it’s a little orange ray of sunshine in the midst of so much automotive doom and gloom…