Noble is back with SA-built Fenix
2009-11-20 10:55
Lee Noble, considered impersonable and pedantic by some. You’d probably be too, if you built three of greatest sportscars ever from scratch. After being fired from his own company, he’s simply started another.
After being banished from the company bearing his name, Lee Noble has started Fenix Automotive with the aim of launching another supercar killer by next year.
Probably the greatest independent performance car designer of modern times, Noble’s abilities need little verification.
An unheralded talent?
The maverick engineer might be as renowned for his abrasive personality as for the genius he visits upon mid-engined car design, yet his body of work is peerless.
First there was the Ultima GTR, which was - excuse the pun - ultimately an endurance racer with indicators.
The Ascari Ecosse followed, which underlined Noble's evolution to a more road-biased supercar design.
Those first generation Ford Mondeo rear lights were a bit weird, but this is the view most 911 owners get of the M12, generally pulling away...
Lee’s first cars bearing his name, the Noble M12 and M400, were epic - capable of besting supercars retailing at nearly twice their price.
The latest Noble M600 doesn’t carry Lee’s signature though. He was fired from the company in what many called a palace revolt at Barwell last year.
A curious case of fraudulent property ownership dealing was given as the reason for Lee’s departure.
Rising from the ashes, like a Fenix?
You can’t keep a determined designer, who’s made a career of beating the system and playing against the odds, down.
This week Lee Noble officially made clear his intentions to release a mid-engined V8 supercar, very much in the pure sportscar tradition of his previous work, to market by the end of next year.
Never one to shy away from predictions, Noble has said the car will retail for just under £75 000, boast 0-160km/h accelerative verve in the region of seven seconds and, allegedly, boast Noble M12/400 humbling dynamics.
Considering how good the M12 and M400 were, those are fighting words indeed…
Noble tubular chassis and V8 power cocktail should mix up to something really special with the forthcoming Fenix...
Nearly there, with a little help from his friends
Development of the yet unnamed Fenix car is a year in the making, with chassis and powertrain verification currently being assessed within the first prototype.
A neat local angle is the involvement of long-time Lee Noble partner Hi-Tech Automotive of Port Elizabeth. Hi-Tech built the prototype Fenix and should be responsible for production versions too.
Noble’s mantra of high-quality, low-cost manufacturing (no matter where in the world it’s made) has always been one of the best marketing glances on the ingenuity of the South African automotive industry…
