Fenix Rising

by Michael Satterfield

After his 2008 resignation from Noble Automotive, Lee Noble is back with his first new Supercar from his new company Fenix Automotive. The car is a new creation and shares little with the Noble M12 and M400. The car may look like a new version of an old Noble, but it is anything but in place of the Turbo V6 that was found in the Nobles, this car has GM sourced V8s ranging from 480 to 638 horsepower allowing the Fenix to go from 0-100 in under seven seconds with a top speed around 200 mph. The car is undergoing final development at Fenix's new manufacturing plant in Por Elizabeth, South Africa. The car will be on sale in the UK towards the end of 2010 and we may make its way to the USA, (possibly in a kit form like the Noble) in 2011.

The car is touted to bring $240,000 worth of performance and quality for around $120,000, however, official pricing has yet to be released. We think that any Noble or this New Fenix would make a find car for any Gentleman Racer and many M12's and M400's can be found at track days around the country.

Check out the Press Release and Photos Below:

PRESS RELEASE

TEASER PICS PROVIDE FIRST GLIMPSE OF NEW LEE NOBLE SUPERCAR

Leicestershire - These are the first official shots of Fenix Automotive's astonishing new supercar, which is due on UK sale in the second half of this year. While Lee Noble has given a strong hint that the car will be a 'natural, but even more focused' successor to his iconic M12, his new design is fresh, bold and dramatic, with a premium feel normally associated with exotica costing over £150,000."The M12 was hugely successful, but we needed to move the game on in terms of design," said Lee. "The new car's styling owes nothing to what I've done before and has quite literally been a 'clean sheet' exercise from the start. It's edgy, with powerful lines, and aerodynamically will be in another league to any of my previous cars."Fenix also announced that it will be offering a choice of two engines for the new car. GM's 480bhp LS3 V8 will be the 'base' unit, while the 6.2-liter supercharged LS9 V8, as seen in the recently launched Corvette ZR1, will provide customers with a 638bhp power option. Factor in a target kerb weight of 1200kgs, and performance in either car will be prodigious, but Fenix estimates that the LS9-engined car should accelerate from 0-100mph in under seven seconds on its way to a top speed of around 200mph."Our first prototype is now in build and development will start in around one month's time," said Lee. "We'll be hot-weather testing the first prototype on the mountain roads around Port Elizabeth, South Africa, where the car will be manufactured. But I'm itching to get the car back to the UK where I can set it up on roads I know well."For more information about Fenix Automotive, go to http://www.fenixautomotive.com/.

[Source: Fenix Automotive]