The story of the Fitch Phoenix

LIME ROCK — Lime Rock, John Fitch, and the Phoenix:  The three are so interrelated  that it’s hard to think of one without the others.

During the 1950s, John Fitch was a successful international race car driver.  He raced for eighteen years and counted victories at Le Mans and Sebring among his many triumphs. His experience driving race tracks in the US and abroad gave him the urge to design and create a true race track that would suit all varieties of cars and drivers. Teaming with Jim Vaill, they created and built Lime Rock on the site of a sand and gravel quarry.

The first race was in 1957 and Fitch was its first general manager.   The track remains today exactly as it was upon opening.

Paddock enlargements, paving maintenance and improvement, spectator amenities, all are still an ongoing part of Lime Rock, but every turn, hill, and straightaway are exactly as original. It is one of the most challenging 1.5 mile tracks anywhere.

But it wasn’t just the urge to create a track, Fitch was equally driven to create a ca. Encouraged by the acceptance of the Corvette, the thought of a true luxury GT car slowly became a reality. Teaming with friend Coby Whitmore, they chose the Corvair chassis/drive train as the  starting platform. It was the right size, a low posture, and most critically, it had a low profile, rear mounted, flat six cylinder engine.

This gave him a much freer palette to use for his design.  He chose a coach builder in Turin, Italy, to build 500 examples of the “Phoenix”. Introduced at the NY motor show in 1966, it boasted a 170 horsepower Corvair engine with a Weber carburetor which propelled the car to 130mph, and 7.5 seconds to 60 mph.  Reception for the car was outstanding and orders were being taken for the proposed production of 500 cars.

But fate dealt Fitch a cruel blow. Congress had just established the Highway Safety Bureau which was examining all cars for  safe drivability. This put production on hold, and the final blow came when activist Ralph Nader singled out the Corvair in his crusade against “unsafe” automobiles. With the heart and skeleton of his car  taken away, production was halted with only one Phoenix in existence.

The car remained with John Fitch until his death in 2012. As part of his estate, it was auctioned at the prestigious Concours d’ Elegance in Greenwich in 2014. All Lime Rock, John Fitch, and Phoenix aficionados owe huge appreciation to Lime Rock resident and car connoisseur, Charles Mallory, who has brought the Phoenix home to Lime Rock — and that’s not “home to rest.” The car is driven, enjoyed, and marveled at every time it rolls out of the garage.

The only Fitch Phoenix ever built  is owned by Charles Mallory of Lime Rock and driven regularly. Photo by Lans Christensen

Photo by Lans Christensen

  

The only Fitch Phoenix ever built  is owned by Charles Mallory of Lime Rock and driven regularly. Photo by Lans Christensen