“It’s something else, Mate. It handles like a cross between a late-model Porsche and the best Corvair you ever drove in your life. It has the same wheelbase as the stock Corvair, but it’s so much smaller overall, and so much lighter, that it’s a lot quicker and more responsive than its Corvair ancestry might lead you to expect. It steers and stops and gets off the line with real authority. It’s tight, you know what I mean? It’s a genuine sports car—not a GT, and not a hoked-up “modern classic” either. Wait’ll you drive it—it’s a gas!” Thus spake David E. Davis, Jr. in the December 1966 issue of Car and Driver.
One of the first automotive journalists to test drive the new Fitch Phoenix, Davis was clearly impressed with his stint behind the wheel. In fact, he was so enamored of the nimble two-seater that he predicted Fitch would “easily sell all of the first batch of 500 cars,” and indeed, about a hundred enthusiasts rushed to put down cash deposits to get one of Fitch’s self-proclaimed Porsche fighters. But it was not to be.
A few months later, the National Traffic and Motor Safety Vehicle Act was signed into law, giving the government an unspecified say in the design and manufacture of automobiles. The vagueness of the impending legislation made Fitch nervous, so he decided to pull the plug. He returned the deposits, but kept the prototype. On Sunday, June 1—just one month shy of the 48th anniversary of the car’s July 4, 1966 introduction—the very same Phoenix prototype that Davis drove for his article will be offered at the Bonhams auction at the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance.
The Phoenix was essentially an evolution of Fitch’s Corvair Sprint, a factory-approved tuner upgrade that included a four-carburetor conversion kit for more horsepower, a reworked rear suspension and shortened steering arms for tighter handling, and radial tires for better grip. Having improved upon the basic Corvair coupe, Fitch set out to create a world-class Corvair-based sports car. Using the Sprint’s mechanicals as a starting point, he swapped out the front drums for Girling discs and made a series of track-worthy chassis modifications, including fitting Koni shocks.
The car’s wheelbase was 13 inches shorter than the Corvair’s 108.0-inch span, and it rolled on staggered-width 14-inch tires—175s in the front and 185s out back. Davis’s story touted 170 horsepower for the Fitch Sprint–modified four-pot engine, and a 0-to-60 run of 7.5 seconds. Weight was claimed to be around 2000 pounds and top speed pegged at 130 mph.
As a close friend of John’s, I drove the Phoenix a number of times and was always reminded of my 1973 Dino 246 GTS, which is similar in its dimensions, drivetrain layout, and power-to-weight ratio. The Phoenix also has those distinctive (if dated) bumps atop the front fenders which, like the Dino’s own fenders, create the sensation of driving an open-wheel car.
Fitch co-designed the Phoenix with noted illustrator Coby Whitmore, with whom he also collaborated to create the stunning Fitch-Whitmore Jaguar. The thin-gauge steel body was hand-fabricated in Italy by Intermeccanica, and incorporated a front-end crumple zone (a nod to safety echoed by the integral roll bar). Aware that some buyers might object to the fender humps, plans called to offer the ability to delete them as an option, even though they served to house the different sized spare tires. Although the car was sometimes accompanied at shows by a sign proclaiming it to be the prototype C3 Chevrolet Corvette, the much earlier Mako Shark concept belies that assertion. Still, the front end of the one-off Phoenix does bear a strong resemblance to the ’68 Sting Ray, the first Corvette to offer another Phoenix feature, the T-top.
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The photos accompanying this story were taken in November 2009 during the taping of an episode of Wayne Carini’s Chasing Classic Cars television series. John continued driving and enjoying the Phoenix until shortly before his death in October 2012. I’m hopeful that the next owner will continue to use it as he did.
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