Zenos E10 RZ, £25k cars to keep for a decade

... and who precisely is still building lightweight British sports cars?

By Cam Tait / Thursday, 8 October 2026 / Loading comments

Remember the Zenos E10? Of course you do. Lightweight British sports cars don’t come around all that often, especially those taking aim at the Elise and its featherweight cronies. Add to that the fact that it was developed by former Lotus and Caterham engineers, plus a power-to-weight ratio of up to 500hp per tonne, and the E10 looked set to become a smash hit. Except it wasn’t, with poor sales resulting in the company folding in 2017. Now, under the ownership of AC Cars, Zenos is back with a new and improved E10, so we’ve decided to have a chat about it on this week’s episode of The Gassing Station podcast.

Admittedly, the Zenos revival has been in the works for some time now. Sam drove the E10 RZ prototype around a damp, cold Donington Park in November last year, and came away beaming despite the hypothermia. Now there’s a more approachable, less hardcore model in the works for those who don’t spend every weekend at their local race track. With Sam’s new review imminent, we talk about where Zenos is at in 2026, what its roadmap looks like and whether the revived E10 can really justify its near-£100k(!) premium over the 2016 launch car.

As for this week’s buying challenge, PHer Raspberry-26 has £25,000 to spend on a reliable, cheap-to-run car that’ll last them the next 15 years. The problem is that their shortlist consists of a Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3 and Honda Civic, all of which are fine in their own right, but they’re also quite dull. So Sam’s suggested this Nissan 370Z for £22,995, because it’ll make the daily commute infinitely more enjoyable and (fuel bills aside) probably won’t cost the earth in maintenance. I, meanwhile, have gone for this Hyundai i20 N for £24,496, which will require fewer trips to the pumps and has space in the back should they need it. If those don’t do it for you, then head into the topic here and pop your own suggestions in.

On top of that, we look into all the remaining lightweight British sports car makers, and why the outlook isn’t nearly as bleak as you may think. Yes, your news feeds may be packed with Ferrari Luces and Jaguar Type-01s, but Caterham, Morgan, Zenos and the like will still have you covered at the other end of the weight spectrum for many years to come. Thank goodness.

Listen here