There’s a brand new car from Noble. Yes, I’m as shocked as you are. But it’s true: British car maker Noble does still exist, and it has created a brand new supercar to prove just that.
Noble, which is based in Leicester in the UK, hasn’t premiered a new car in 12 years. In fact, it ceased production of its last new car, the M600, in 2018 — eight years after it launched.
So, to follow on from the M600, Noble decided that the best thing to do was create an all new 500hp supercar called the M500.
The firm said the M500 is a “less ‘extreme’ Noble” and considers it a “little brother to the M600”. Despite this, it uses the same 3.5 litre twin-turbo engine found in the M600 and the Ford GT.
The design seems like a modern re-interpretation of Noble’s M600 supercar. The model shown in these renderings retains the M600’s profile, but softens the lines. The squared off front of the M600 is replaced with a nose that’s reminiscent of the Porsche 918.
But it’s at the back where Noble has really tidied up its act, particularly the neat-looking twin triangular exhausts that encase a gaping diffuser. I’m a fan of the M500’s design.
Which could be because it’s borrowed from… a lot of different places. As GM Authority notes, the headlights come from the C7 Corvette while the taillights come from a Citroën. Why bother with a fiddly design if you can make the most of someone else’s?
While the car was initially unveiled at the 2018 Goodwood Festival Of Speed, it’s had another launch at the start of 2022 as the company prepares to finalise the new supercar.
The M500’s final, production-ready guise was unveiled in UK magazine Autocar. In an interview with Noble’s managing director, Peter Boutwood, we learned a few additional details about the supercar.
The report said:
“In lieu of the M600’s carbonfibre bodywork, the M500 has a shapely new glass-reinforced composite body that contributes to a lower cost. But underneath, the steel tubular chassis is ‘70% M600’, according to Peter Boutwood, Noble’s managing director.
“The M500 is the same length as the M600 and only millimetres wider but has been redesigned to be roomier. Fundamentally, the chassis and suspension are sufficiently similar that Boutwood expects the ride and handling to be ‘very much like an M600’.”
As well as that Ford engine, the Noble M500 will be fitted with a six-speed manual gearbox, double-wishbone suspension and hydraulically assisted power steering.
While Noble is yet to iron out the finer details of the new car, Autocar added that the road-ready M500 would look close to this model.
And as for the price of Noble sleek new vision? Well, that hasn’t been set in stone yet either, but Autocar suggested that the price of the M500 would be “around £150,000”, which is about $US205,000 ($282,343).
The British car maker hasn’t commenced orders of the M500 just yet, but hopes to begin deliveries of the new supercar later this year. Maybe with fewer borrowed parts. We’ll have to see.