In 1999 Lee Noble showed Autocar a working sports car before anyone had heard of his company. It carried his surname, and a crown now sits above it.
- Country
-
United Kingdom - Active
- Since 1999
- Founded by
- Lee Noble
- Website
- Official website ↗
One man’s surname, one very fast idea
In 1999 a British engineer called Lee Noble turned up at Autocar with a working sports car, the M10, without any idea how the magazine would react. It liked it. That same year he founded Noble Automotive and put his own surname on the cars.
Lee Noble wasn’t new to the game. According to Autocar, he had already designed early models for Ultima. At Noble he designed, engineered and tested the cars himself, and the turbocharged M12 that followed in 2000 earned a reputation as one of the best road and track cars of its time.
Then the story changed hands. In August 2006 the company was sold to the American race team owner Peter Dyson, and in 2008 Lee Noble left. Today Noble Automotive builds its cars in Leicester, England.
A crown over the name
The logo on Noble’s official website is simple. At the top sits a stylised crown: four upright points, each topped with a dot, resting on two horizontal bars. Below it the word NOBLE is set in slanted capital letters inside a rounded frame, with AUTOMOTIVE spelled out in widely spaced letters underneath.
What does the crown mean? Noble hasn’t said. The obvious link is the word itself, since a noble is someone of high rank, but that’s a reading of the badge, not an explanation from the company. What is certain is that the name comes from its founder.
Hand-built in small numbers
Noble has never made many cars. It builds small numbers of two-seaters by hand, and every model so far has worn an M in its name.
Landmark Nobles, from M10 to M500
- 1999: M10. Lee Noble’s first car, the one he showed to Autocar before the company had a track record.
- 2000: M12. A turbocharged two-seater that grew through the GTO, GTO-3 and GTO-3R versions to the faster M400.
- 2006: M15. Lee Noble’s planned successor to the M12. It was shown, then shelved by the new owners and never reached production.
- 2009: M600. A carbon-bodied supercar with a twin-turbo version of the Yamaha V8 known from Volvo. It took third place in evo’s Car of the Year test in 2009, and production ended in 2018.
- 2018: M500. First shown as a concept at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Noble calls it the little brother to the M600, built on the original M600 chassis with a manual gearbox only.
The M500 borrows its twin-turbo V6 from Ford. Noble shares the British small-volume sports car scene with names like Lotus, TVR and Ginetta.
Noble questions, answered
What does the Noble logo look like?
It shows a stylised crown above the word NOBLE in slanted capitals inside a rounded frame, with AUTOMOTIVE written underneath.
Who founded Noble?
Lee Noble founded Noble Automotive in 1999 and gave it his surname. He sold the company in 2006 and left in 2008.
Where are Noble cars made?
Noble Automotive is based in Leicester, England, and builds its cars by hand there.
What is Noble’s latest car?
The M500, first shown as a concept at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed. It is based on the chassis of the M600 and comes with a manual gearbox only.
From M10 to M500: the Noble file
- Founded
- 1999
- Founder
- Lee Noble
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Headquarters
- Leicester, United Kingdom
- Current emblem
- A stylised crown above the NOBLE name in slanted capitals inside a rounded frame
- Known for
- Hand-built British supercars such as the M12 and M600
- Website
- Official website ↗
