Low, light, minimalist and sinister as all hell, the Rodin FZero is an upcoming turbocharged V10 track-focused (though allegedly street-legal) hypercar that beats F1 around just about any track. Rodin does this by completely throwing out the F1 rulebook and starting from a clean sheet of paper. With a closed cockpit, no regulations on downforce or power, plenty of weigh reduction, and lots of aero work, the FZero packs some impressive specs to compete with Red Bull’s own throw-the-rulebook-away RB-17 hypercar project, or the all-conquering sucker-car EV McMurtry Spéirling. Try this on for size, 1500 horsepower, 1538 pounds, 6,613 pounds of downforce at speed, how does that sound?
Fast as all hell is how that sounds to me.
You might have heard of Rodin Cars, New Zealand tech mogul David Dicker’s vanity project car company named after “The Thinker” artist, which lets him play race cars in multi-billionaire retirement. Dicker founded the company in 1999 with the goal of building a high-performance track-only car. You may recall the Rodin FZed, built from the ashes of the Lotus T125 project, a 3D-printed Formula 1-style chassis built for rich folks to take to the track. Reviews from the period say it was “remarkably easy to drive.”
Recently Rodin has expanded its efforts from track day cars to real racing cars, buying Carlin Motorsport and rebranding it Rodin. This was a real jumping-in-with-both-feet moment for the squad, because it is simultaneously running cars in F1 Academy, Formula 3, Formula 2, and various F4 regional series. Rodin won nine rounds of the 15-round F1 Academy series with lead driver Abbi Pulling.
While the FZed was around as quick on most tracks as an F1 car from a decade ago, Dicker wasn’t happy with that. He wanted his flagship car to be faster than F1 and by not a small margin. According to Dicker his simulations have shown the new FZero to be around seven seconds per lap quicker than the F1 record at Australia’s Albert Park circuit in Melbourne. If that proves true, he’ll definitely have a really fast car on his hands.
Allegedly some 30 examples of this car will be built with 27 of them being offered to the public. In the past Dicker has talked about building an all-electric version of the car as well, though that will likely take several more years to develop. There’s no word what these machines will cost, but you can bet into the many multiples of millions of dollars. Get your checkbook ready, the FZero is coming.