One year on from
its world première at the Geneva Motor Show, Zagato's Perana
Z-One is back in at the Swiss Palexpo again with the news
that it is now gearing up for production, after the plans
were put on ice over the last year, and it is set to go on sale in
the UK in May with the rest of Europe following closely
afterwards.
Based around a
Corvette platform and mechanicals, a popular choice to
underpin bespoke sports cars, the Z-one was designed in
record time by Italian design house Zagato thanks in part to
using cutting-edge virtual development software. The Perana
Z-One revives the famous but since-defunct South African
tuning name, and it is set to go on sale for a price of
50,000 euro. Fully certifiable for the road, ultra
high-performance, front-engined sports coupé uses a powerful
6.2 litre V8 engine to drive the rear wheels. The Z-one is a
genuine 2-seater coupé that enjoys the benefits of 50/50
weight distribution.
The powerful 6.2
litre V8 engine produces 330kW and allows the Perana Z-one
to attain a 0-100km/h figure of under 4 seconds and reach
0-160km/h in under 10 seconds. The secret to the Perana
Z-one's iconic performance is the near perfect combination
of its supremely powerful engine, light weight design,
balanced weight distribution and 6-speed performance
transmission.
Last year in
Geneva the news was that it would go on sale by that summer,
however the deepening global financial crisis saw its
production plans put on ice, explains Perana CEO Jim Price.
"The global economy was in the process of descending into a
financial crisis of unknown proportions and this affected
not only our current business but that of some of our major
suppliers as well," says Price. "We deemed it prudent to
postpone the launch of the Z-One until such time as the
economic recession started showing signs of retreat. We
believe this is now the case and that the Geneva show is the
right place to offer the Zagato designed Z-One to the
public.
Production
plan for the Z-One are well advanced according to Price: "We
have decided to release the vehicle initially into the UK in
May of this year and then into Europe a few months later,"
said the Perana CEO. "We are still in contact with a number
of confirmed buyers from last year and are very confident
our sales targets can easily be met."
In Geneva this week the car is being show in a new red paint
finish, alongside another Zagato project with a South
African flavour, the Joule electric city car.
The idea of
producing an Italian-styled, South African-designed and
manufactured sports car kicked off in late 2007 and the
Perana Performance Group was created as the entity to bring
what was then a concept to where it is today. The Perana
project is the result of Zagato's nine decade-long expertise
in constructing fully functioning running concepts. Virtual
reality development was integrated from inception,
effectively eliminating the need for the traditional styling
model and enabling the prototype to be completed in less
than four months. The demise of low volume manufacturers
around the world coupled with the changes in EU legislation
relating to low volume manufacturers has created the
opportunity for the Perana Performance Group, it believes,
to launch a car with high performance capabilities. The new
car which will be built at a new automotive facility is very
much a back to basics, a no frills car which demands driver
input beyond that required by the established players in
this segment of the market.
