Every few decades, we see a turning point in the design, performance, and purpose of a car. For example, the Ford Model T changed the industry by becoming the world’s first mass-producing car. McLaren F1 started the trend a few decades ago, and it hasn’t stopped since.
After the 3-seater hypercar took the world by storm, the world saw numerous companies over the world try their hand in the supercar and hypercar market. But in this area of the automobile industry, simply good or adequate isn’t enough. Some excellent ones became uber-popular, Koenigsegg, Pagani, McLaren, and Bugatti to name a few.
Some of them fell through the cracks, while some became famous, but not for the right reasons. Danish manufacturer Zenvo Automotive is among the latter. Their first attempt, the ST1 got bad publicity thanks to its infamous appearance on Top Gear. But that hasn’t caused Zenvo to give up.
Their portfolio is now 5 models strong (including a track-only sports car) and one of them is the TS1 GT. Not many people know about it, and those who do won’t really sing praises of it either. But we believe it’s a remarkable car that deserves at least a second chance to try and win car enthusiasts’ hearts. Here’s why we think the Zenvo TS1 GT is a highly underrated car.
The TS1 GT Carried A Very “Hot” Zenvo Badge
Reputation goes a long way not just in the automobile industry, but in most places. When Zenvo revealed the TS1 GT in 2016, it was barely 2 years since a lot of us heard about the brand through Top Gear in the first place. And we all know how it went. After that, very few people would really want to give their hard-earned money, $1.2 million worth, to a brand like Zenvo.
If it were Ferrari or Lamborghini, we can gloss over a bad car and give them the benefit of the doubt. That’s because companies like them have a rich history of great cars to back their claim up. But think about brands like Mitsuoka, Dome, Vector, or Cizeta. Their first attempt at building a sick supercar wasn’t a ground-breaker. Most of these brands no longer make cars anymore.
Zenvo looked like it was headed in the same direction until it launched the TS1 in 2016. The TS series shares the same chassis and body as the ST1 but has an upgraded powertrain, better interior, and some design tweaks over the original supercar. But the damage was done. Top Gear is a fairly popular show in the world. In fact, it set a Guinness World Record in 2013 for being the world’s most-watched factual TV program.
More than 350 million people watched Top Gear across more than 200 countries! Now imagine even a small fraction of gearheads among those 350 million people watching the firm but fair Zenvo ST1 test. Although the host Jeremy Clarkson left out some good bits about the car, he didn’t make any of the negative points up and Zenvo had to embrace disappointment like they never thought.
As a result, the later models were subject to getting overlooked by some.
An Objective Look At The TS1 GT Design
If you have never heard of the Danish brand, you may be one of the few people that would be actually impressed by Zenvo. Not only is this supercar very powerful, but it also looks great in a grand tourer disguise. Unlike many brave yet crazy supercars out there, Zenvo made sure to not experiment with the TS1 GT’s design.
Out of most complaints people had for the ST1, appearance was not among them so Zenvo didn’t try to fix what’s not broken. But that doesn’t mean that the car looks bland or boring at all. Tonally, it’s mature rather than childishly aggressive *cough* Civic Type R.
The overtone, however, is where Zenvo did the magic. There are subtle design elements like hood vents, side skirts, and aerodynamic additions that look in place when we see them individually and make the car look super fast when we look at the whole car. The big black front grille looks great, especially from a distance.
The side profile is perhaps the best looking of the car, with the aerodynamic design and the side vents leading air to the rear brakes are beautiful to look at. The rear vents right below the tail lights remind us of the Lexus LFA, but that’s where the similarities end for both cars. And we believe Zenvo struck gold with that rear spoiler.
Zenvo TS1 GT Puts Money Where Its Mouth Is
The TS1 GT comes with a 5.8-liter V8 flat-plane engine. The V8 gets extra air from Zenvo’s twin centrifugal supercharger system with a two-piece air-to-air intercooler. All that comes together and produces 1119 hp at 7100 rpm! That and an impressive torque figure of 840 ft-lbs mean that the TS1 GT is really a fast car.
It’s no Koenigsegg One:1, but the TS1 GT has a weight-to-power ratio of 1.35 kg/HP which is certainly is praiseworthy. Its top speed is electronically limited to 233 mph and has a 0-60 mph time of 3 seconds. In supercar terms, it may not be record-shattering, but fast enough to warrant a need to buy one.
However, since it’s a grand tourer, we wager that the TS1 GT has a big one-up against other supercars in terms of comfort. The TS1 GT finds a nice sweet spot between a performance-focused supercar and a long-trip-focused GT sports car. But the biggest issue here is availability.
Zenvo has the production system of making only 5 of these per year. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why it’s not in nearly enough people’s minds as an excellent sport grand tourer.
Source: Zenvo Automotive