Back in November we brought you news of eponymous supercar maker Lee Noble’s return to the world of high performance cars with his new company – Fenix Automotive. Lee had left the company that bears his name, but was obviously itching to get back to the fray with a car that reflects the great Noble’s of the past – including the very successful M12.

The old Noble company has headed upmarket with its latest offering – the Noble M600 – but Lee intends the new supercar from Fenix to be a more affordable proposition – around £70k. Just like the old days, this ‘Noble Fenix’ is being developed in South Africa and will also be built there as well instead of being shipped to the UK for assembly as Nobles used to be.

When we reported on Fenix Automotive in November we said that we expected the first picture of the new Fenix in January. And bang on cue its turned up in our inbox. Lee Noble considers the new car a clean sheet design, although he says this is the natural progression of the M12 and will offer aerodynamics in a different league from any of the previous Noble cars.

Powered by either the LS9 lump from the Corvette ZR1 – producing 638bhp, 0-100mph in 7 seconds and 200mph+ – or a 480bhp LS3 V8 lump with 480bhp, the first prototype is almost ready to roll in South Africa and will be coming to the UK in the next few months to be set up.

Lee Noble is aiming to produce around 70 cars a year initially, but expects that to jump to up to 500 cars once the new Fenix is marketed in the US. No word on a name yet, but the Fenix is expected to be ready to hit the roads later in 2010.