Photo: Sothebys
Lee Noble, the famed designer of British cars in the 1990s capable of taking on Ferrari and Lamborghini on the road, but doomed to suffer as a business over the years, did make some amazing production cars now coveted by automotive enthusiasts.
Now a one-off prototype is scheduled to hit the auction block - after being discovered in a barn of all locations - and as a result, someone will own this one-off Ascari FGT Prototype. The auction is scheduled for next month.
The Ascari FGT was built in 1992 by Noble Motorsport Ltd., the predecessor of now-iconic Noble Automotive Ltd.
Lee Noble built the Ascari FGT prototype around a mid-mounted Chevrolet V8 that produces 420 horsepower (313 kilowatts) and routes it via a five-speed manual gearbox. This car was actually registered for road use back in 1993.
This lovely and historically desirable prototype was rediscovered in a farm building and, during the restoration process, it received an upgraded fuel injection system. It was rebuilt with Lee Noble himself on board to help with the restoration.
The Ascari FGT was a concept originally designed by Noble, the inspiration and founder of the low-volume British sports car company Noble Automotive Ltd.
Two years after coming up with the idea for this beautiful prototype, Noble sold the rights and the blueprints for the FGT to Ascari Cars Ltd.
In 1995, Klaas Zwart, a Dutch racing driver, purchased the Ascari marque, and with that purchase came rights and designs for the FGT. Zwart then invested some cash and entered the FGT into the 1996 British GT Championship powered by a Ford Modular V-8 engine.
In fact, the FGT would later provide inspiration as the pre-production prototype for the Ascari Ecosse, but unlike the Ecosse, the FGT featured road-ready pop-up headlamps, five-spoke alloy wheels and a 6.0-liter, fuel-injected Chevrolet V-8 engine.
This Ascari FGT says this is the first - and only - prototype version of this car ever made, and after the sale of this FGT concept to Ascari, this one car was used as a promotional piece in various Ascari brochures and ads.
The current owner says this Ascari sat in a barn for 13 years before he purchased it.
The Ascari FGT rolls across the auction block on November 6 at RM Sotheby’s London, UK upcoming auction, and the estimate is that the car will sell in the range of $80,000-$100,000.
The Ascari FGT was built in 1992 by Noble Motorsport Ltd., the predecessor of now-iconic Noble Automotive Ltd.
Lee Noble built the Ascari FGT prototype around a mid-mounted Chevrolet V8 that produces 420 horsepower (313 kilowatts) and routes it via a five-speed manual gearbox. This car was actually registered for road use back in 1993.
This lovely and historically desirable prototype was rediscovered in a farm building and, during the restoration process, it received an upgraded fuel injection system. It was rebuilt with Lee Noble himself on board to help with the restoration.
The Ascari FGT was a concept originally designed by Noble, the inspiration and founder of the low-volume British sports car company Noble Automotive Ltd.
Two years after coming up with the idea for this beautiful prototype, Noble sold the rights and the blueprints for the FGT to Ascari Cars Ltd.
In 1995, Klaas Zwart, a Dutch racing driver, purchased the Ascari marque, and with that purchase came rights and designs for the FGT. Zwart then invested some cash and entered the FGT into the 1996 British GT Championship powered by a Ford Modular V-8 engine.
In fact, the FGT would later provide inspiration as the pre-production prototype for the Ascari Ecosse, but unlike the Ecosse, the FGT featured road-ready pop-up headlamps, five-spoke alloy wheels and a 6.0-liter, fuel-injected Chevrolet V-8 engine.
This Ascari FGT says this is the first - and only - prototype version of this car ever made, and after the sale of this FGT concept to Ascari, this one car was used as a promotional piece in various Ascari brochures and ads.
The current owner says this Ascari sat in a barn for 13 years before he purchased it.
The Ascari FGT rolls across the auction block on November 6 at RM Sotheby’s London, UK upcoming auction, and the estimate is that the car will sell in the range of $80,000-$100,000.
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