Lee Noble, a well-regarded auto designer and race-car driver, formed Noble Automotive Limited in Leicestershire, England, in 1998. In 1999, he released the M10, also built in South Africa. English car magazines swooned, praising the Noble for superb driving dynamics. One year later, a refined and prettier version of the M10, called the M12, appeared. In 2003, 1G Racing began importing about six each month to the U.S., approximately 30 percent of the total production.<\/p>\n
The car certainly looks fierce, a sports car for sure, but it doesn’t appear to be all that sophisticated. The chassis is made from steel tubes, and the body is fiberglass. The mid-mounted, twin-turbocharged 360-hp V-6 uses the engine block from a Ford Taurus, and the six-speed transmission is from the European Ford Mondeo.<\/p>\n
And it posted supercar numbers at the track: The quarter-mile happened in 11.8 seconds at 118 mph, and it pulled an even 1.00 g on the skidpad. The $448,000 Porsche Carrera GT does the quarter in 11.2 seconds at 132 mph. Bear in mind that skirting crash and emissions regulations makes it easier to keep a car light. The Noble weighs only 2457 pounds, 689 less than the carbon-fiber Carrera GT.<\/p>\n
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