Rodin Cars has officially put its formula race car on sale after revealing the all-black FZED mid-year.
Using 500kW-plus Cosworth-engineered 3.2-litre V8s and ultra lightweight carbon fibre structures, New Zealand racing car and technology firm Rodin Cars is selling its open-wheeler FZED racers capable of hitting 160km/h in five seconds and topping out at 300km/h.
Weighing just 609kg minus a driver, the FZED is the brainchild of Australian founder, Ferrari Challenge champion and businessman David Dicker whose R&D facility in New Zealand has been developing the cars based on a Lotus T125 with carbon fibre composite chassis and an Italian aero package made by HP Composites.
Rodin offers the package with carbon Alcon brakes, adjustable Öhlins racing dampers, an in-house bespoke custom exhaust system, an Indy Car tunnelled floor, and several 3D printed components like a titanium steering wheel and carbonfibre panels all made using “one of the most diverse collections of 3D printers in the Southern Hemisphere”.
Rodin Cars even designs and manufactures all fasteners used on the FZED, starting life as titanium blocks, and eventually featuring “rolled threads” (which are stronger than cut threads), and PVD surface coating with individual laser-marked part numbers.
The FZED, costing A$940,000 (US$650k), is designed to go 5000km between engine services or rebuilds, can run on 98-Octane fuel, and are eligible to race in the Formula Libre category in New Zealand as well as being accepted in the prestigious BOSS series in Europe.
Dicker himself says it’s a one-of-a-kind breed of race car without the problems of conventional F1 cars.
“The Rodin FZED is a far more practical and durable proposition compared with buying and running an historic Grand Prix car,” he says.
“People do buy them, I had one, but they are more difficult to run and less durable, plus there’s the risk of crashing a car with an important Grand Prix heritage; some are getting too expensive to risk on a race track, or parts are no longer affordable, or even available,” Dicker explains.
He says for the wealthy enthusiast customer, there’s a compelling cost of ownership proposition in the FZED.
“Currently you cannot buy a car like this anywhere in the world at any price – this is a totally new offer to the high-performance car market,” he highlights.
“Where a Grand Prix car is designed to run for just 185 miles/300 km or for two hours and then undergo a complete strip down, we see the Rodin FZED as being superior in terms of endurance as well as cost per lap,” he explains further, with no plans on slowing down.
“We have significant plans to expand Rodin Cars in the future. This is a serious, maximum high-performance track-car building business.”
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