Noble

Noble, the company responsible for the cool M600 supercar, has just introduced its first brand-new vehicle in years at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed. It’s called the M500 and will slot right under the M600 as Noble’s entry-level sports car.

The SVR denomination may be famous for its presence on high-performance Jaguars and Land Rovers built by the brand’s Special Vehicles Operations division, but in England it also stands for Super Veloce Racing, a sports car dealer that sells Lamborghinis, Porsches, and Aston Martins for a living. Recently, SVR was also appointed by Noble Automotive as its official sales and service dealer in the U.K., and the small firm in Buckinghamshire will use the 2016 London Motor Show to showcase its first custom-built M600.

Unveiled in 2010, the Noble M600 is low-volume, V-8 sports car that’s most famous for being driven three times on Top Gear and for being praised by Jeremy Clarkson. The Noble also scored a 1:17-minute lap around the show’s track, beating both the Pagani Zonda F and the Bugatti Veyron.

The fact that SVR will handle M600 sales from now on isn’t the only news that comes with the press release. Super Veloce Racing also announced that the deal also includes a test drive with a professional racing driver and a customization program. SVR says that buyers will be able to select "bespoke details that can go beyond unique aesthetic details and can include complex changes that are more than skin deep," but declined to provide actual details.

The M600 in question gets its juice from the same 4.4-liter V-8 found in the standard car. Although the Yamaha-developed engine is pretty old, being used by Noble since 2010 and by Volvo in the first-generation XC90 as early as 2005, Noble is able to squeeze up to 659 horsepower and 604 pound-feet of twist from it, which is the same output the show car will come with. Its power-to-weight ratio is an impressive 558 horses per tonne, enabling the car to hit 62 mph from a standing start in 3.5 seconds. The 0-to-120 mph sprint is achieved in 8.9 seconds, while top speed is estimated at 225 mph. The engine mates to the same race-bred, six-speed transaxle.

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Looking for a job? If so, then you might want to talk to boutique supercar builder Noble. The company currently builds about 12 examples of its 2011 Noble M600 per year, but wants to see that number grow to 25. In order to do that Noble will need to hire new employees, but that might not be as easy as it sounds. The auto industry is filled with specialists, but very few people have the breadth of knowledge to build a performance car from start to finish.

In a recent interview, Noble Managing Director Peter Boutwood told De Telegraaf Autovisie that very few people in the industry have the requisite skills to build a complete car, and that most are experts only when it comes to small parts. When a small team builds a car they form a sense of camaraderie and pride that’s harder to get when one employee is tasked exclusively with hanging 50 doors every day.

Boutwood went on to say that the despite Noble’s order books being completely full, he didn’t anticipate production surpassing 25 units annually, and that the company won’t sacrifice quality and exclusivity for quantity. Noble is currently happy to sell M600s through agents in England, China, Taiwan and soon Dubai, but there are no plans to expand to North America. Boutwood says that would require sacrificing six cars to crash tests, which is out of the question when you only build 12 cars per year.

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With the introduction of a convertible prototype for its indomitable M600, appropriately named the Speedster, Noble is stepping into unknown territory. The English automaker is famous for creating low-production, rear-wheel-drive, mid-engine sports cars that express pure driving experience, and despite the lack of a roof, this drophead is expected to be no different.

Like the regular M600, the Speedster should offer its passengers very little beyond a total immersion in speed. The only driving assists you’ll find on the hardtop are a rudimentary traction control system and the fear of death. There isn’t even ABS. The handling is hairy, taking a Stig-like touch to drive well. Mounted directly behind the cabin is a 4.4-liter V-8 with two turbochargers strapped to the exhaust manifolds, yielding a total 650 horsepower and 654 pound-feet of torque.

Plumbed into the 2,645-pound body of the current M600, that’s a power-to-weight ratio of 541 horsepower per ton, a figure that bests even the mighty Bugatti Veyron. Properly motivated, we expect the Speedster to emulate its hardtop twin, blasting from a standstill to 60 mph in three seconds, running a standing quarter mile in 11 seconds flat, and hitting a top speed of 225 mph.

Given the uncompromising nature of the Speedster, it should come as no surprise that Noble’s managing director, Peter Boutwood, is a Ferrari F40 owner and former racing driver. According to Autocar, Boutwood says Noble has no immediate plans to produce the Speedster, but rather calls the prototype a “research gathering exercise.”

"If it makes production, our aim is for it to be one of the fastest cabriolets in the world," he said. Considering the long development period required for the small Noble team to actually put an idea into production, a customer-ready Speedster might not appear for some time. We’ll eagerly await the results.

Typically, when a roofless version of a sporty car is released, the overall performance is nerfed. With no material at the top to hold it together, the chassis loses a substantial amount of torsional rigidity, which yields a serious penalty when it comes to cornering prowess. Automakers often attempt to fix this with addition bracing lower in the body, but that creates weight. And weight, if you didn’t already know, is the sworn enemy of any performance measurement. It makes everything worse — acceleration, braking, lateral grip, even fuel mileage.

Given this fact, you may be surprised to hear that Noble chopped the top on its hardcore, driver-oriented M600. However, the company says it’s happy with the current stiffness of the carbon fiber body, and thus consequently left it structurally unaltered in the Speedster prototype.

The question remains: can Noble really offer all that speed in a car with unlimited headroom?

Updated 01/09/2015: Noble unveiled the M600 Speedster at the 2015 Autosport International show. The model revealed at the show is still a prototype version and the company announced no plans to come with a production version, but we have big hopes.

Click past the jump to read more about the Noble M600 Speedster.

Last June Noble unveiled the first teaser image, making us believe that sometime in the future we could see a roadster version for the M600 supercar. However, the company said nothing else on such a possible model since then. Now, Peter Boutwood, managing director of Noble is bringing the M600 Roadster back into discussion.

According to him: "We haven’t built or tested one, but it is a feasible project." If built, the M600 Roadster would use a removable roof panel made of lightweight carbon fiber. When removed, the roof can be stored in the engine bay, so that the passenger can enjoy the same interior space as in the coupe.

Also, the company decided to go for a roof panel because it is not structural and it will not affect the M600’s handling capabilities. Talking about this new roof, Boutwood said: "It’s not about how it looks, it’s about how it goes and drives. We would never compromise the car".

Everything else will be borrowed from the coupe version. If built, the next M600 Roadster will arrive on the market in the next two or three years.

Click past the jump to read more about the Noble M600.

There is no doubt that a supercar looks the best when it is offered with a bare-carbon-fiber body. The Noble M600, for example, is a pretty cool car, but the model displayed by Noble in Geneva is even more amazing.

In fact, Noble came in Geneva with two different M600s: the Carbon Sport - made of course in carbon fiber - and the Meco version featuring a blue exterior with white wheels. As you probably have guessed the one in carbon fiber was, of course, our favorite.

The M600 is powered by a Volvo-sourced Yamaha V-8 engine and comes in three different power levels: 450, 550 and 650 horsepower. It goes from 0 to 60 mph in just 3 seconds and won’t stop until it hits a top speed of 225 mph.

We are not too sure how much this version will cost, we’re sure you will have to pay more than the $320,000 you’d pay for the base version.

While speaking to ATFULLCHAT at the recent Pageant of Power event at Cholmondeley, Noble Automotive MD Peter Boutwood officially released the very first, and possibly the only picture ever, of a Noble M600 Convertible.

After the M600 coupe’s launch a couple of years back, we always felt that something was missing from Noble’s range with a convertible being at the very top of our wish list. However, it’s worth noting at this point that the following image is simply being pinned as “a factory styling exercise” with Boutwood claiming “there are definitely no plans at present to produce it.”

Nevertheless, it’s still an interesting prospect being showcased by Noble and despite their claims that it’s only a styling exercise, we have a slight inkling that if pre-existing Noble customers and possible new customers like the idea, and Noble Automotive can find the funds to produce such a car, the company will prepare an M600 Convertible in the coming years.

With that being said, the following picture only seems to be a rendering of a convertible variant rather than an actual photograph taken of a one-off M600 convertible. As a result, we’ll take Boutwood’s statement to heart, but we’ll still dream of a convertible M600 being produced some day, even if that means an out-of-house tuner has to perform the conversion.

Do you think Noble should consider turning this “styling exercise” into a production ready car? Hit us up in the comments section below!

We love watching videos of some of the hottest sports and super cars do their thing on some of the best race tracks in the world, so when we came across a 20 minute long video of the Ariel Atom V8 and the Noble M600 in action at the most impressive race track, we had to jump on it.

Chris Harris was behind the wheel of two of the most amazing British supercars for his little trip around the Nurburgring. The two cars were borrowed from the factory, so it was even more challenging for Harris. No one wants a super car maker mad at them for wrecking borrowed cars, right? But in the end, Chris Harris described the experience as "scary as sh*t, but awesome!"

As a reminder, the Ariel Atom V8 is powered by a Hartley-built 3.0 liter V8 engine that produces 500 HP and 284 lb-ft at 7750 rpm. The Noble M600 is powered by a Volvo-sourced mid-mounted 4.4-liter V8 engine with a couple of turbochargers in it. For the M600, Noble is producing three power variants – a 450 horsepower, a 550 horsepower, and a range topping 650 horsepower with 654 lb/ft of torque.

Everyone’s favorite trio since the Three Stooges is back in the headlines after a few months of relative obscurity.

Yes, friends; Clarkson, Hammond, and May are coming back for the 18th season of Top Gear and one of the first segments that has been leaked out is a real doozy. The trio was recently spotted filming a segment for Top Gear in Rome, Italy with a trio of exotics that would make any car-loving individual turn green envy.

Check out the digs the boys have in their hands - a Lamborghini Aventador, a Noble M600, and a McLaren MP4-12C - and tell us that you don’t want to just to beat up these guys and run away with their supercars.

Thoughts of violence aside, we’re actually pretty happy to see these guys back in action. We don’t know what kind of gimmick they have for those three exotics, but considering their long and rather infamous history with the cars they drive on the show, anything short of memorable will be a disappointment.

While we await for the season to kick off at the break of 2012, we can sit down and enjoy this video of the three supercars being prepped for the three luckiest men on the planet.

For a car that took a few years to develop, you would think that Noble would take to great lengths in hyping the hotly-anticipated production debut of their new supercar, the M600.

Instead, it was about as low-key as it could get. On one hand, we weren’t surprised considering that the company isn’t particularly known for bombastic and glitzy unveilings. On the other hand, you would think that a car of this stature should have had its own stage, a chance for the world to see the final product of Noble’s hard work and dedication.

In any case, Noble has finally introduced the production version of the M600 and yes, the car looks to be as good as advertised. The supercar’s appearance maintains a slender and contoured shape that doesn’t scream for attention every time you look at it, unlike other supercars we’ve seen in the past. For those of you that think a subtle yet aggressive design on a supercar doesn’t work, the M600 is proof that it definitely can. It’s also worth noting, at least as far as we’re concerned, that at first glance, you notice a few similarities with other supercars. It doesn’t mean that Noble spiked some design elements from its competitors, but rather used them as inspiration to design a car that looks about as stunning as we imagined.

UPDATE 09/08/11: Marchettino has done it again, shooting a new video of the Noble M600 supercar revving its engine around Monaco! Trust us, the sounds coming out of this supercar is nothing short of amazing, so you’ll want to hear it! Turn up your volume and hit the jump for the video.

Details on the Noble M600 after the jump.

Lee Noble is no neophyte in the supercar business, having already been involved in a number of exotic automotive ventures in the past. After founding Noble Supercars, Noble was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the M600. After selling the company a few years ago, Noble went ahead and established a new South Africa-based brand: Fenix Automotive.

Now, there’s word that Noble has become involved with another start-up exotic builder, Poland’s Arrinera Automotive. The skepticism surrounding the production of Arrinera’s Venocara supercar was justified when the car was unveiled a few months ago, mostly because of a lack of substantial funds to support the entire project. But now that Noble has entered the picture - he reportedly bought a five-percent share in the company - the entire Venocara project seems to have gained some traction.

As part of the agreement, both Arrinera and Fenix are hatching an agreement to create a small group of different brands that will build and develop their own respective supercars. The first step to this collaboration will constitute Fenix selling 50 percent of the company to Arrinera sometime this year, with the end game being that all these brands will form a powerful supercar network in the future.

We don’t know how all of this will play out, but it does create a little bit of excitement to see a group of start-up companies join forces to give the old guards of the industry a serious run for their money.

After Top Gear had their way with the Noble M600, Fifth Gear also had the chance to drive the new Noble M600 supercar.

The Noble M600 is powered by a twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8 engine with over 650 HP underneath the hood that’s capable of pulling off a 0-60 mph in just under three seconds. The M600 can hit a top speed of 223 mph. Based on a tubular chassis and carbon fiber panels, the Noble M600 weights only 1275 kilograms. The car only comes with a six-speed manual transmission with no anti-lock brakes to go with it. Additionally, the car’s traction control system can be deactivated, giving full control of the car to the hands and skills of the man sitting behind the wheel.

We almost forgot! If 650 HP is somehow too much for you, Noble is also offering 450 hp or 550 hp version.

Check out the video to see Jason Plato behind the wheel of the new Noble M600 supercar!

When Lee Noble decided to make a living for himself, the highly motivated Briton decided that designing, building and selling his own brand of affordable super cars would be a good idea. A handful of speed machines later, including the original Noble M12 and even an Ultima GT-R, Mr. Noble’s high performance coach builders are hard at work coming up with the next generation of every man’s super car.

Mr. Noble has just announced his all new endeavor: Fenix Automotive Limited. With the line’s first launch scheduled for the end of 2010, Lee promises an ultra powerful mid engined V8 super car that can accelerate from 0 to 100 MPH in under 7 seconds and cost less than £75,000. According to the man himself, "Our new car will offer buyers performance and dynamics that they’d normally have to spend well over £100,000 to experience, but at a far more affordable price...It will combine simplicity, strength and agility, while its two-seat, closed body will ensure sensible levels of refinement for road use." With a new plan under his belt and a more than a quarter century experience honing his craft, we wouldn’t bet on Fenix Automotive to fail anytime soon.

Press release after the jump.