AC Cars Group Buys Zenos Assets

A group led by U.K.-based AC Cars Ltd. has acquired the assets to struggling British carmaker Zenos Cars Ltd., including the rights to the Zenos name.

Terms of the deal and the other investors weren’t disclosed.

An insolvency administrator was appointed in January to oversee Zenos after several orders were canceled for the company's sole model, the E10 roadster. Zenos, which was formed in 2012, also had planned to make convertible and coupe versions of the E10.

The new owners will continue making the E10—possibly under the name AC Zenos—and will consider other models, AC boss Alan Lubinsky tells Autocar. He says the group will take over Zeno’s factory in Norfolk, England, but may move production of the E10 to its own production facility in South Africa.

AC Motors and Zenos also will evaluate other ways to reduce costs through economies of scale and parts sharing, Lubinsky says. Acedes Holdings LLC purchased AC Motors, whose history dates back to 1901, in 1996. AC Motors now specializes in replicas of the classic 1960s-era Cobra sports cars inspired by Carroll Shelby.