Designer Lee Noble, who had worked on a string of British kit and sports cars, founded Noble Automotive in Leeds in 1999. The M12, built from 2000 to 2008, used a mid-mounted turbocharged Ford Duratec V6 in a light chassis, and versions such as the GTO-3 and GTO-3R quickly earned a reputation as some of the best-handling cars of their time.
The track-focused M400 of 2004 to 2007 pushed the formula further with 425bhp and 0-60mph in around 3.2 seconds. Lee Noble left the company in 2008. Noble is now based in Leicester, with its body shells made by a partner company in South Africa.
The M600 of 2010 to 2018, with a twin-turbocharged Volvo-derived V8 of 650bhp and a carbon-fibre body, took Noble into supercar territory while keeping a hands-on, analogue character. Its latest model is the M500. Noble remains a very small company, building cars in limited numbers.
