A couple of years ago, Top Gear reviewed the Noble M15. Like the handful of the breed that had come before it, the M15 won the approval of the show's hosts. As I hadn't been previously aware of any company called Noble producing any sort of car, the M15 handled the introduction - and it won me over too.
If you haven't heard of Noble, it's probably a good thing. You're not a car nerd, and you may well be a better person for it. They're a tiny manufacturer of religiously simple, focused sports cars. They don't do pretty or luxury or electronic wizardry, but they are master practitioners of fast.
After watching the M15 dance around the Top Gear test track, I forgot about Noble for a year. A few months ago I watched Richard Hammond's power test again, and it rekindled my interest in the brand. Weirdly, I couldn't find information about any sort of M15 production run. I just saw whispers of some new Noble in development testing - the M600, out in the Mojave with a Carrera GT for a playmate. Confounded, I did some more digging. It turns out the M15 never actually made production. Noble decided it wasn't fast enough, so they took it back and dialed the whole project up to eleven. The M600 is the result.
Noble revealed the new car a month ago, and the automotive press have since been effervescent in their praise of it, lauding its blistering speed, crisp handling, and composed ride. The M600, as it turns out, doesn't play with Carrera GTs. It spanks them and sends them back to Zuffenhausen weeping. It's an amazing achievement for a company as small as Noble, but it comes at a cost. 200,000 GBP, which converted is about a million billion U.S. dollars. And being a Noble, it's not svelte or sexy, so it won't seduce the money from anyone's pocket. The M600's success rather rides on two sorts of customer, with the obvious prerequisite being considerable wealth. They are: the speed freak and the pure-hearted car lover. The first will be drunk with lust at lap times and zero-to-sixty sprints. The latter though...I fear that these are a dying breed. The M600 forgoes ABS or satellite navigation, full leather interiors or airbags. It does without a fancy badge and name-brand prestige. Like the Carrera GT, it will endlessly frustrate poseurs because it fails to flatter the butterfingered showoffs when road and track get twisty. The uber-Porsche can still sit in the garage and impress with its supermodel looks and badge, but the Noble won't work here. You'd really have to love the car for its bare essence to appreciate a Noble. Indeed they make a habit of churning out cars that are this essence, distilled. Moreover, with the M600 costing as much as a government bailout, you'd have to harbor a deep-rooted hatred of the established brands for selling out to moneyed fools.
I love the Noble M600. Its well-sorted ride means it's both comfortable and agile, so it wouldn't spend any time in my garage - just out on whatever road fits my fancy. Its twin-turbocharged V8 and lean curb weight mean nobody will see it for long enough to consider its badge or looks. As an interpretation of the sports car's essence, it's incredibly successful, and I desperately hope that it finds enough takers, both speed freak and true car lover, to succeed financially...because the world needs more cars like Nobles.
If you haven't heard of Noble, it's probably a good thing. You're not a car nerd, and you may well be a better person for it. They're a tiny manufacturer of religiously simple, focused sports cars. They don't do pretty or luxury or electronic wizardry, but they are master practitioners of fast.
After watching the M15 dance around the Top Gear test track, I forgot about Noble for a year. A few months ago I watched Richard Hammond's power test again, and it rekindled my interest in the brand. Weirdly, I couldn't find information about any sort of M15 production run. I just saw whispers of some new Noble in development testing - the M600, out in the Mojave with a Carrera GT for a playmate. Confounded, I did some more digging. It turns out the M15 never actually made production. Noble decided it wasn't fast enough, so they took it back and dialed the whole project up to eleven. The M600 is the result.
Noble revealed the new car a month ago, and the automotive press have since been effervescent in their praise of it, lauding its blistering speed, crisp handling, and composed ride. The M600, as it turns out, doesn't play with Carrera GTs. It spanks them and sends them back to Zuffenhausen weeping. It's an amazing achievement for a company as small as Noble, but it comes at a cost. 200,000 GBP, which converted is about a million billion U.S. dollars. And being a Noble, it's not svelte or sexy, so it won't seduce the money from anyone's pocket. The M600's success rather rides on two sorts of customer, with the obvious prerequisite being considerable wealth. They are: the speed freak and the pure-hearted car lover. The first will be drunk with lust at lap times and zero-to-sixty sprints. The latter though...I fear that these are a dying breed. The M600 forgoes ABS or satellite navigation, full leather interiors or airbags. It does without a fancy badge and name-brand prestige. Like the Carrera GT, it will endlessly frustrate poseurs because it fails to flatter the butterfingered showoffs when road and track get twisty. The uber-Porsche can still sit in the garage and impress with its supermodel looks and badge, but the Noble won't work here. You'd really have to love the car for its bare essence to appreciate a Noble. Indeed they make a habit of churning out cars that are this essence, distilled. Moreover, with the M600 costing as much as a government bailout, you'd have to harbor a deep-rooted hatred of the established brands for selling out to moneyed fools.
I love the Noble M600. Its well-sorted ride means it's both comfortable and agile, so it wouldn't spend any time in my garage - just out on whatever road fits my fancy. Its twin-turbocharged V8 and lean curb weight mean nobody will see it for long enough to consider its badge or looks. As an interpretation of the sports car's essence, it's incredibly successful, and I desperately hope that it finds enough takers, both speed freak and true car lover, to succeed financially...because the world needs more cars like Nobles.
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