The History of Noble Cars

It is impossible to talk about the history of Noble Automotive without talking about the British entrepreneur who launched the company in 1999, Lee Noble.
He’s been designing sports cars, super sports, and supercars since 1983, when he designed the Ultima Mk1.
Having worked extensively with supercar manufacturer Ascari, designing for them (most notably, the Ascari FGT, in 1996), Noble left Ascari to form his own company, because his design ethos began to differ markedly with the other designers at Ascari.
His vision was to produce a cheaper, simpler vehicle. To build a relatively affordable supercar that focused on two things: exceptional engineering, and light weight.

In many ways, the Noble M12 was the ultimate expression of that vision.
The vehicle won high praise for its speed, power and handling, and became affectionately known as the “Ferrari Killer.” Noble though, has never seen his company as competition for the Ferrari market.
Ferrari mass produces high end cars, and Noble has always chased a more distinguished, refined, and discerning market, a sentiment shared by Peter Dyson, the company’s current owner. His tiny company only built 12 cars their first year in business, and only builds about fifty a year today, each one made by hand, and with a relentless focus on perfection.

Every car that rolls out of the small factory in Leicestershire, England is 100% custom.
The future owners of the vehicle have input on just about every feature and aspect of their new vehicle, so that when it is delivered to them, it fits them like a glove.
Like an expensively tailored suit.
If you want to change the color, the interior, the sound system or virtually any other feature, you need but say the word, and your desires will be built into the fabric of the vehicle.

The suit analogy is an excellent one, by the way, because the vehicle is hand crafted with carbon fiber, which begins life as a cloth, and is then cut into the 3D shape it will ultimately take.
This is, in large part, what gives the M600 its ultralight weight.
Fully built, the car weighs a scant 1198 kg (2641.138 pounds).
That’s an amazingly low weight, and when combined with the supercar’s 662 horsepower engine, allows the vehicle to turn heads, even among supercar enthusiasts.

Although Noble left his company in 2009 to form a new automotive venture, Fenix Automotive, the M600 proves that he’s left the company in good hands. Peter Dyson shares his vision for what a supercar should be, and both men focus on the driving experience itself, seeing too many electronics as a distraction, and something that separates car and driver.