First images of Fenix supercar released

Lee Noble has risen from the ashes of his former company, the eponymous Noble Automotive, and launched a new supercar under the Fenix Automotive banner. The company's first new product is a clean sheet design that owes little to the old M12 and M400 cars that were sold in the States as component vehicles. While it shares similar specs and general shape with the new Noble M600, it has nothing else in common with the latest vision-warping supercar to bear his name.

Where the M12 and M400 were stripped-down flyers powered by various versions of the European Ford 3.0-liter V6, the Fenix will be powered by a choice of Chevrolet V8 powerplants. Customers can specifiy either the 480 horsepower LS3, or the 638 horsepower LS9 from the Corvette ZR1. With a projected curb weight of just 2,645 pounds, the supercharged Fenix should be able to sprint from 0-100 mph in under seven seconds and reach a top speed of around 200 mph.

The first prototype will be undergoing development around the company's manufacturing facility in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The Fenix supercar will go on sale in the UK in the second half of 2010 and U.S. sales are a possibility. The Fenix is expected to offer a level of performance and sophistication that would rival $240,000 thoroughbred sportscars while costing about half as much. No official pricing has been announced yet, but the company did issue a press release, which you'll find after the jump, and a pair of photos in the gallery below.

[Source: Fenix Automotive]

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-litre 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 www.fenixautomotive.com.