The Noble M12---Reputation Builder.

I know, I know. This thing isn’t the best looking thing, and might make you gouge your eyes out and drop them in Eye Bleach or something, but bear with me: This is Not something that was styled by a Blind Man and then cobbled together from bits found in the Dustbins of nearby manufacturers. The Noble M12 was the second attempt by Noble Automotive, the same people from Leicester(Pronounced Lester) that now bring you the M600, a car made with bits from the Industrial Revolution, but somehow able to match higher-luxury supercars, to well….Make a car for the Drivers’ among us, I suppose. But unlike the M600, the M12 did have a number of different versions, but not enough to creep into Horacio Pagani’s territory.

The story of Noble Automotive starts with a man named Lee Noble. Definitely doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as Horacio Pagani, or Enzo Ferrari, but anyway, he was a British car designer who founded the company in ‘99 after working on low-volume cars with Astronomical price tags for Ultima, Prosport and Ascari. Wanting to keep the ethos of those niche cars but also wanting to dramatically reduce manufacturing and retail prices and make cars for the Drivers amongst society. Traditionally, this formula would normally end in a Terrifying disaster, (or, more often than not, bankruptcy and subsequent obscurity) but ever since he came out with the 2.5-litre V6 M10 in 1999 that looked not too dissimilar to the Toyota MR2(Qian Li Intensifies), he didn’t look back. He did make a few M10s, but when the M12 came about, everyone moved their deposits over to the M12. And with good reason, too. The Press liked it, Which…Is a start. Hell, Its success hinged on the strength of the car itself and not some Multi-Million-Dollar PR-Marketing ad or something.

All M12s were powered by modified twin-turbocharged Ford Duratec V6’s. With a roll cage made of steel, steel frame, and G.R.P. (fibreglass) composite clam shell body parts. Although it looked to be track derived, the M12 was street-legal, ready for both road and track. The M12 had no anti-roll bars on the car, allowing for a ‘comfortable’ feel. Presumably by Track-toy standards.

The coupe evolved through four versions of the car, with the M400 as the ultimate version of the M12, and then followed by the M12 GTO-3R. Only 220 Noble GTO-3Rs and M400s were imported to the U.S. They were the only Nobles back then available to the American market. The U.S. production rights to the M12s and M400s were sold in February 2007 to 1G Racing from Ohio. Due to high demand of these cars, 1G Racing (now Rossion Automotive) released its own improved car based on the M400, named the Rossion Q1. Another company which was also producing a model developed from the M12 was Salica Cars 1 with their Salica GT and Salica GTR. No word on their success yet.

Four variants were available over the years, they weighed pretty much the same(1000-ish kilos is the magic number), but had slightly different engines:
Noble M12 GTO – V6, 2.5-litre bi-turbo, 310bhp – 2000
Noble M12 GTO-3 – V6, 3.0-litre bi-turbo, 352bhp – 2003
Noble M12 GTO-3R – V6, 3.0-litre bi-turbo, 352bhp – 2003
Noble M12 M400 – track-variant, V6, 3.0-litre bi-turbo, 425bhp – 2004

As an example as to how fast the M12 was, the M400 was listed as having a 0-60 time of 3.5 seconds and a top end of 170mph. One-seventy may not be blistering speed these days but 3.5 seconds is knocking on the doors to the numbers of a Ferrari 458. Not bad for a bloke who built cars in a shed in Leicester, eh?

Oh yes, the spec sheets for the Rossion’s and Salica’s.
Rossion Q1 3.0L bi-turbo 450 bhp, at 6500 rpm 420lbft, at 5000 rpm, weighs in at 1097 kilos, 0-60 mph in 3.2 seconds (company spec, at least)…

Salica GT 3.5L(A Ford-Sourced V6, apparently.), bi-turbo 460 bhp 2255 lb/1025 kg

Salica GTR 3.5L, bi-turbo, 550 bhp

Salica GTC 3.5L bi-turbo, 500 bhp, 1000 kilos in weight.

The only convertible variant (the M12 GTC) was shown at motor shows but was canceled, and was never produced by Noble. In 2008, Salica Cars proposed the Salica GTC, offered both as a complete car and a conversion kit to transform an M12/400 coupe into a convertible.
Oh yeah, Salica will make you a combo of any Exterior/Engine choice you like. So you can have anything you’d like.

Now, the Q1. It isn’t just a M400 in a different Frock, but rather something a bit more unique. Firstly, is the body: Not made of Fibreglass, but rather, Carbon-Kevlar. Yep, Carbon-Kevlar. Its got more modern features, looks better, unlimited choice of colors, and plus, as far as I’ve uncovered, they’re still making it. So place your orders in now, because this might be the best spin-off car.
Headline figures? It’ll sprint to 60 from a standing start in 2.8 seconds, blast to 100 in another 4.1 seconds, and will eventually top out at 195 mph. Although, this is estimated based on Climate Conditions and the Driver’s ability. So, drop Rosberg, Hakkinen or Max in and you should get close to those figures. Drop Alex in….And I’m not so sure. Oh yeah, this thing comes with Free WiFi. And has better interiors.
SCORE!

….And that’s about it. My coverage of the Noble M12, the car that built upon its predecessors’ good reaction and was something much, much more than expected. It’d lay the foundations for most of the cars ever since, mainly in the engine department, and made sure that the company would stay afloat, long enough till they made their next big splash with the M600. Feel free to leave overlooked details, advice and suggestions for the next article down in the comments, and I hoped you enjoyed it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to rest.

See you at the next one.

[Writers’ Note: If you’ve read till here, then, Again, Thanks. I know this came out later than expected, so I’m sorry. I was really tired yesterday, so I couldn’t get it out then. Sorry. I am a bit battered, so this might be a bit incomplete. But if you’ve read till here, then, Again, Thanks. Anyway, the M12. I first came to know of it after a Wheelers’ Dealers episode, Yes, that one car fix-‘em-up show thing with Mike Brewer and dear old Edd China. You probably know the Drill afterwards. I’m really kind of running low on Productivity and ideas right now, so I might cut this short. Long story short, I covered this because I had nothing better to cover, the ‘Heroes Of Racing’ series is temporarily discontinued while I find more ideas, the ‘Revisited’ series and ‘Main Features’ will continue, the ‘Did You Know?’ series awaits an input or idea, and the ‘Quick Car Feature’ series will not return anytime soon. Or pretty much ever. The ‘50 Years of 911s’ series is kinda at the back of the mind, I’m waiting for my schedule to open up to allow for it. Stay tuned. If you spot errors—-You know what to do. Feel free to add extra info in the comments, too.

Hoped you Enjoyed it, and I’ll see you at the next one.

Thanks Again—-Joel.]