Fenix Supercar, First Photos

LONDON — Fenix Automotive, the supercar company founded by former Noble Cars boss Lee Noble, has released two preview pictures of its new midengine supercar, which launches in the second half of the year.

The car, which has yet to be named, is powered by a 638-horsepower Corvette ZR1 LS9 engine and with a modest weight of 2,646 pounds, is good for a 0-100-mph time of 7.0 seconds and a claimed top speed of more than 200 mph.

A less potent version using a 480-hp GM LS3 unit will also be offered, priced at the equivalent of $112,000 in the U.K., although no figure has been given for the LS9-powered edition.

Fenix plans to sell the car in the U.S. Eventually, the company envisions building 500 cars annually following a 60-70-unit-per-year start-up rate.

Noble sees the Fenix as a successor to the M12 built by his former company, and indeed, the new car does not look dissimilar to the new and well-received Noble M600. "The M12 was hugely successful, but we needed to move the game on in terms of design," said Noble. "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."

The Fenix is being built and largely developed in South Africa, although final chassis development will be carried out in the U.K.

"Our first prototype is now in build, and development will start in around one month's time," Noble says. "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 U.K. where I can set it up on roads I know well."

Inside Line says: A new supercar waits in the wings. — Richard Bremner, Correspondent