Zolfe Orange news - Round the blend - 2009

Very few low-volume sports cars named after popular fruits have proved successful. The Zolfe Orange, an appositely-named two-seater officially launched this week, aims to change all that.

The Orange has been created by a British-based team including former Caterham engineering chief Jez Coates, and is powered by a Ford-sourced 2.3-litre four-pot driving the rear wheels. With 185bhp, performance is likely to be lively rather than terrifying: that said, the Orange weighs in at a mere 700kg, which is heavy by fruit standards but actually very light by sports car standards.

However, the most entertaining bit of the Orange is playing ‘spot the influence’. A bit of 911 around the headlights? Some Datsun 240Z in profile? A soupcon of BMW Z4 Coupe about the cabin? Some bloke’s Vauxhall Nova in Romford for the wheels? What can you see in there?

For our part, we reckon it’s a happy amalgamation of the little-known Westfield Guava, Jetstream Kumquat and Dax Boysenberry…