Formula 1 is enjoying a golden age at the moment, with great on-track action followed by a booming fan base. But for anyone the idea of experiencing what it was like to drive one of these cars is unobtainable unless your name is Piasti, Hamilton or Verstappen.
Or at least it was unobtainable…
Last weekend reigning TCR Australia Josh Buchan thrilled the crowds at the World Time Attack Challenge by lapping Sydney Motorsport Park in the Rodin FZed. The New Zealand-built single-seater is the closest thing you can get to a ‘turn key’ F1 car without needing special connections in the F1 paddock.
In fact, all you need to do is call Zagame Autosport in Melbourne, where former V8 Utes racer Rod Wilson oversees a fleet of 30 racing cars for track day enthusiasts. Zagame Autosport is the local agent for McLaren’s GT3 and GT4 cars, as well as providing access to GT and one-make racing cars from Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin.
It’s also the agent for Rodin Cars, makers of the FZed, and it was the Zagame-owned car that Buchan was demonstrating at SMP. You can buy one too and get yourself on the track in a car directly inspired by F1 cars from the 2000s era.
For those unfamiliar with the story of th FZed, it began life as the Lotus T125 project (also known as the Exos), which was based on the Lotus F1 cars of that period, albeit slightly toned down for amateurs to use.
It was a commercial flop for a variety of reasons, but Rodin Cars founder, David Dicker, saw the potential and revived the project at his New Zealand base. His team “redesigned every square inch” of the Type 125 to create the FZed as it exists today.
Centred around a carbon fibre tub and powered by a 3.8-litre V8 from F1 legends Cosworth, the FZed really is as close to an F1 car as you can get from a private company. While it may sound intimidating for the inexperienced, Wilson said that’s not the case, after he test drove it at Rodin’s private test track in New Zealand.
“It’s actually fairly easy to drive,” Wilson told Torquecafe. “It’s driver friendly. Yes, it’s capable of 4G lateral, but if you only get to 2G it’s still pretty great.”
Wilson explained the rationale for Zagame Autosport to add the Rodin FZed to its range was as simple as wanting something special for its existing, or potential new, clients to graduate into from a GT car.
“I wanted to add something cool to the portfolio,” he said. “We thought the Rodin would be this cool, ultimate track day car.”
Zagame will offer a full maintenance and operational package for the FZed, so buyers can simply ‘arrive and drive’ at a track day, or it’s easy enough to be run by a small team.
While there is likely to be a limited audience for such a car, there’s only a limited number of FZed available, with only approximately a dozen original tubs built. It isn’t cheap at US$650,000 (approx. $955,000) but compared to many modern supercars it’s a surprisingly good value way to live out your F1 fantasy.
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