Noble Drop Top
GTC and M400 to debut in May at the Motorshow
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The Noble M12 GTC, a concept of which was originally shown at the 2002 Motor Show, will take a bow on the Noble stand at this year’s Motor Show Live in May, with the first cars going to owners in August.
Unlike the yellow concept car (pictured), which had no hood arrangement, the ’04 NEC show car will be near-identical to the GTCs that Noble will start delivering shortly after the show.
Lee Noble said of the project: “My main concern was engineering a hood that was weather and wind-proof, but was also easy and quick to remove or put up. I also wanted the roof to be stored in the car when not in use, which posed some problems, due to the minimal storage space in the fixed-head M12, on which the GTC is based. Our solution is clever, effective and looks sensational. We expect this car to boost M12 sales massively .”
Completing the new M12 line-up will be the 400bhp+ M12 track special, code-named ‘M400’, which will also receive its first public viewing at Motor Show Live.
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Suffice to say it's "neat", very very clever and spanks the bum off any other car's solution.
What else would expect from the House of Lee Noble?
Full release here....
NOBLE AUTOMOTIVE
PRESS BULLETIN
Wednesday, February 4th, 2004
OPEN-TOP NOBLE ON SALE IN AUGUST
The Noble M12 GTC, a concept of which was originally shown at the 2002 Motor Show, will take a bow on the Noble stand at this year’s Motor Show Live in May, with the first cars going to owners in August.
Unlike the yellow concept car, which had no hood arrangement, the ’04 NEC show car will be near-identical to the GTCs that Noble will start delivering shortly after the show.
Lee Noble said of the project: “My main concern was engineering a hood that was weather- and wind-proof, but was also easy and quick to remove or put up. I also wanted the roof to be stored in the car when not in use, which posed some problems, due to the minimal storage space in the fixed-head M12, on which the GTC is based. Our solution is clever, effective and looks sensational. We expect this car to boost M12 sales massively.”
Completing the new M12 line-up will be the 400bhp+ M12 track special, code-named ‘M400’, which will also receive its first public viewing at Motor Show Live.
(although the Noble hood design is perfect for all that the British weather can throw at it) 
In terms of the car's strength, bear in mind that the M12 GTO already possesses an immensely rigid structure, which we believe will pay dividends when it comes to roof-off motoring.
I'm afraid I can't quote you prices or exact specs yet. Please bear with us and we will provide you with more details (and perhaps some pix) around the start of April.
Simon Hucknall
Press Officer
Noble Automotive Ltd.
gizard said:
Then surely it cannot be as stiff?
stuh said:
steve uk said:
Does anybody know the price of the GTC and has it roughly the same performance of the 3R.
Same power but lighter
But remember the M12 is based on the chassis of the M10 which was a soft top.
The specs at the NEC last year had the GTC 50KG lighter than the GTO. Guess we'll have to see whether Noble have added additional bracing and hence weight since then......................
stuh said:
But remember the M12 is based on the chassis of the M10 which was a soft top.
The specs at the NEC last year had the GTC 50KG lighter than the GTO. Guess we'll have to see whether Noble have added additional bracing and hence weight since then......................
Surely it's obvious if you remove the roof section and don't add any extra bars else where I grant you it will be lighter, however there is no way in which it can be equally as stiff - may not make a huge difference to you and I but it can't be as stiff - simple physics.
As I've already mentioned, the fixed-head M12's structure is so very strong that, even if we made it a fair bit less rigid, you would never notice the difference on the road. And this is not mere speculation, we've done the tests!
Please take it as read that the GTC will trade little in overall strength to the GTO, and the performance difference will be marginal, as I hinted in the press release (see top of this thread). At the end of the day, we're confident that we will not lose potential customers because the GTC may hit 60mph three tenths of a second slower than a 3R.
What you will definitely not have is a flabby, overweight, wallowing boulevardier of an open-topped car. Quite the opposite, I guarantee...
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