A day with Noble Cars…

“Wow”, I thought, hitting the snooze button on the alarm clock with such gusto I nearly knocked it off the nightstand, “What time is it again?” As I squinted across the pillow, I could just make out the numbers, “5:45”. “Boy, I must really be dedicated…or crazy.”

About fifteen minutes later, Oli arrives, having already driven three hours from the far South-West Coast of the UK up to my temporary abode near London. Ahead of us lies a nearly one hundred fifty mile drive to visit what may be one of the most prolific British sports car companies of the current time. Formed only about five years ago, Noble Cars, UK produces two (soon to be three) of the most impressive driver-focused vehicles currently on the road – the M12 GTO3R and the M400. In early 2006, Noble will add the new, more “useable” sports car, the M14. We’re scheduled to meet with Simon Hucknall, Noble’s Press Manager, shortly before 11am for a look into the company behind the cars.

While this article is focused on the company and the people paramount to its success, it would be rather remiss of us not to help you understand why Oli and I are so excited about the opportunity to meet with Noble Cars. As most of our readership, I am an avid car enthusiast, and as such, I read publications from all over the world. In 2002, I read my first article about the Noble M12 GTO and was blown away by the performance quoted in the article. For starters, the car was “only” fitted with a 2.5L V6 engine from a Ford Mondeo (a similar engine to the one used in the US Spec Taurus sedan). This engine developed three hundred and ten horsepower and three hundred twenty lb/ft of torque. This performance spec was enough to push the M12 to sixty in a shade under four seconds and to 100mph in just a tick under ten – impressive performance indeed. Autocar, Top Gear and Evo Magazine all raved about this car. Of greater note perhaps is the fact that Noble didn’t rest on its laurels, producing an uprated version, referred to as the M12 GTO3. The GTO3 pushed the horsepower to 352 and the torque to 350 lb/ft. This shaved tenths off of what were already very quick performance times, dropping the sixty duration to 3.7 and the sprint to 100 to 8.8 seconds. In a straight line, the performance was impressive, but around a track, the Noble’s true colors really shone through, blowing away just about every modern performance car, including those priced twice as much. In a further iteration, the GTO3R, Noble changed the light cluster, changed the gearbox to a six speed unit and installed a torque sensing differential.

The Noble manages all of the above without the use of any fancy gizmos – no traction control, no e-diff, no launch control nor even ABS. Rather, the car relies on superb engineering, which translates, in part, to incredible road-holding characteristics. (The car will sustain over 1.1g of lateral cornering load on street tires!)

Admittedly, this quality of product doesn’t materialize from nowhere. Thus, perhaps the best way to begin talking about Noble Cars is to talk about the man behind the name, Lee Noble himself. Equally at home both on and off the racetrack, Lee Noble spent several years as a racing driver, campaigning a Lotus Europa for several years. With a background in setting up racecars for optimum performance in a variety of conditions, Lee honed his talents for car development. A few short years later, Lee penned the Ultima. The Ultima was based around a steel spaceframe and fitted with either a Renault V6 or a Chevrolet V8 engine. Though he eventually sold his interests in the company that produced the Ultima, over two hundred cars had been produced prior to his departure, and Ultima cars are still in production today in the form of the GTR and the Can-Am.

Shortly thereafter, Lee began work on replicas of the Lotus 23B and the Ferrari P4. Both of these cars sold in relatively low numbers, but enjoy a dedicated following to this day, thanks largely to their excellent build quality. Along similar lines to performance replicas like the 23B and the P4, Lee designed his own racecar, referred to as the “Pro-Sport”. About fifty of these cars were built and raced on circuits in the United Kingdom. Though all of these accomplishments serve to give some indication of the heritage and experience that shines through in the current M12 GTO3R’s and M400’s, none are perhaps as well known as Lee’s other project prior to forming Noble Cars, the Ascari. Together with his partner Klaas Zwart, Lee developed a 500bhp 200mph supercar which turned the motoring press on its end at the car’s introduction. Though interest was high from several different markets, and despite showing at Le Mans, Lee sold his interest in the company to his partner, due largely to his belief that a similarly performing car could be developed and built for far less money. (The Ascari currently sells for £335,000).

The first car developed from his new partnership with Tony Moy was the M10. While the chassis was superb, Lee was not impressed with the overall performance of the open-top car and shortly began development of a coupe, which came to be known as the M12. This car used the same 2.5L V6 that appeared in the M10, but included turbochargers, increasing the output to 310bhp. The M12 would eventually become the current-production M12 GTO3R. In a further design iteration, Noble Cars added another variant, the M400. With an output of 425bhp and a weight slightly over 2,300lbs, the M400 moniker refers to a measurement of horsepower per ton.

Obviously, the Chief Designer, Lee Noble, has a substantial background in vehicle design and development. While this suggests the level of design quality, it would all be wasted if the build quality wasn’t on equal level. Fortunately, the cars are very well manufactured, not exhibiting any of the kit-car’esque build quality common to many low-volume manufacturers. The car is primarily constructed in South Africa and subsequently shipped to the UK for engine and gearbox fitment, final checks and shipment to dealers. While fiberglass, the material used is the highest grade of glassfibre available on the market – a type of “vinylester” not used by many manufacturers due to cost. This material is fully cured prior to the paint process, and as such the car doesn’t retain any hint of fiberglass odor when it’s been shipped to the customer. The interior is neatly trimmed in Alcantara and leather in the case of the GTO3R and solely in Alcantara in the case of the M400. This provides both a visually appealing, non-glare cockpit as well as a nicely gripping surface to sit on. Facia is all aluminum, and though some common plastic parts can be found in the cockpit, their usage is sparse - the controls for the air condition/ventilation system and the vents themselves.) As a result, the car feels very well turned out and worth every penny of its asking price.

We saw several cars being assembled during our visit and were also very pleased to see several customer cars in for routine servicing and maintenance. The fact that customers choose to have their servicing performed at the factory indicates both a trust in the Noble technicians as well as a company dedicated to helping customers keep their cars on the road. (Without gouging them for servicing costs.) It is also refreshing to see a company committed to post-sale customer support at the same level as pre-sale construction.

If a customer were to specify a brand-new Noble GTO3R or M400 today, it would take approximately eighteen weeks before his car would be delivered. After ordering, the rolling chassis is built from scratch in South Africa by Hi-Tech automotive, a process that takes approximately ten weeks. After the rolling chassis is assembled, it’s packaged into a container and begins its five week voyage to Noble Cars in the UK. Once received in Leceister, the final assembly commences, with the engine and drivetrain being fitted. Upon completion of the car, Noble technicians drive the car on a forty mile test route to verify the assembly integrity of the car before being delivered to the customer.

We sincerely appreciate the time Simon at Noble Cars spent with us, explaining all about the marque and the highlights of the cars. After our visit, Oli and I both agreed that the car is equally as impressive as the company. “How impressed were we?” you might ask. Well, perhaps this answers your question:

Yes, that’s right – I bought one. You’re looking at US Chassis #128, currently in final assembly at Ron’s Automotive in Yucca Valley. I’m working on putting all of my buying experience into words so that I might share it with all the potential “Nobility” reading our site. Watch this space…