Zenvo’s Roaring Aurora Lights Up Goodwood But It's Still Just a Prototype

At the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Danish boutique manufacturer Zenvo Automotive unveiled its new hypercar, the Aurora, offering the public its first look—and more importantly, its first listen. For the occasion, the quad-turbo V12 engine, dramatically named “Mjølner,” was fired up for the first time in public, with the honor fittingly bestowed upon the Duke of Richmond, the festival’s host.

The debut model, codenamed VP0, appeared wrapped in a harlequin camouflage pattern, though underneath lay a body nearly identical to the final production form, specifically the more traditional “Tur” variant. The prototype also stormed up Goodwood’s legendary hillclimb, a sacred stretch for car enthusiasts.

As significant as the unveiling was, it’s worth remembering: this is still a prototype. No one has bought or driven a production version, and much of the car’s development remains tethered to outside collaborators. The engine, for instance, was co-developed with MAHLE Powertrain, an independent consultancy specializing in powertrains. Their engineers have supported Zenvo’s teams both in the UK and Denmark with tuning and mechanical development.

The Aurora is built on the brand-new ZM1 monocoque chassis, developed with the help of carbon fiber specialists Managing Composites. Every technical specification, we’re told, has been pushed to the “maximum possible limit”- which, translated from PR speak, likely means it’s fast, expensive, and exclusive. Still, it’s very much a niche project whose future hinges as much on engineering prowess as it does on the patience of its investors.