The Zenvo ST1 is a high performance hypercar manufactured by Danish company Zenvo. It is the company's first model, and is manufactures almost entirely in the hands of a small, highly specialized, team of automotive workers, with the exception of a CNC router.
Company history
Zenvo Automotive is a Danish hyper car manufacturer located in Præstø on the Danish island of Zealand. It was founded by Troels Vollertsen, and the name 'Zenvo' is derived from a combination of the first 2 and last 3 letters in his last name.
Zenvo Automotive was founded in 2004. The first prototype of what became the Zenvo ST1 was completed in December 2008 and production began in 2009.[1] Only 15 cars were built: they were sold to approved customers.[2]
Zenvo ST1
The Zenvo ST-1 is a high performance sports car. Its turbocharged and supercharged 6.8-litre V8 engine generates 1,104 hp (823 kW) at 6,900 rpm and 1,430 N·m (1,050 lb·ft) of torque at 4,500 rpm. According to The Motor Report, the car set a 0–100 km/h time of 3.0 seconds, with 0–200 km/h taking 8.9 seconds, and a top speed of 375 km/h (233 mph)[3]
The ST-1 is made entirely by hand with the exeption of a high performance, 5 axis CNC router. The ST-1 comes equipped with keyless entry, satellite navigation, telescopic steering wheel adjustment and electrically adjustable leather racing seats. In addition, Zenvo works with the customer to customize virtually every part of the supercar's interior, from the type of leather up to the color of the thread and stitch pattern. Zenvo uses a distinctive hexagonal pattern in many of the car's componants, such as the grill and the LED headlight pattern. [4]
Danish design
Zenvo claim the ST-1 is entirely a result of Danish design. The car was designed by Christian Brandt and Jesper Hermann. Zenvo grants the hypercar's aggressive look to the prowling position of a lion, with other sources of inspiration from nature, such as a headlight designed to resemble the eyes of an eagle.[5] The carbon fibre body was made in Germany and many components such as gauges, gas tank, ABS brakes, traction control and airbags come from American or German made cars.[6]
Cost
The car has a list price of €800,000.[7] The price for registering the car in Denmark is around DKK 16 million (€2,143,952) as a result of the country's high registration taxes; however, Zenvo is aiming at the export market only.[8] Production is limited to 15 cars.[9]
Appearance on Top Gear
The Zenvo ST1 was critically panned by the British motoring program Top Gear after a series of unfortunate accidents during filming of a segment for the show, including the car catching fire after a cooling unit failure. Another car from the company eventually finished a complete timed lap of the (wet) Top Gear Test Track; the resulting time was worse than the time of a BMW M5, also on a wet track. Zenvo responded to Top Gear with a statement published on the Danish website Pro Street.