Pining for the GTC??

[kentviking]

I always find the pain of waiting for the GTC can be eased by the odd glance at the photo...A gratuitous reminder of the original show car (not the final spec version at the coming motor show)...





>>> Edited by kentviking on Tuesday 4th May 11:16

[ashp]

I have had this shot on my windows desktop for a while...I'm sure the production version won't be a disappointment !!!

[kentviking]

...indeed,

I was trawling through my 18 months worth of filing still to be done last night and stumbled acorss the Noble pack...

noted that my deposit has basically secured the price to £49,995 - he!he!he!, bet the price at launch is gonna be a bit more than that.

Also noted that the roof is gonna be canvas, damn...kinda hoped for a hard top assembly, but hell it ain't gonna be on the car much anyway.

Finally, I noticed the body of a White Noble in the background of a factory photo for the folder...think someone round here was asking if a White one exists, well it appears so!

[Marlon]

kentviking said:

Also noted that the roof is gonna be canvas, damn...kinda hoped for a hard top assembly, but hell it ain't gonna be on the car much anyway.

Can any of our friends 'in-the-know' comment on whether this is indeed the case? We need a 'cough' smiley; maybe one for 'yes', two for 'no'.

While I'm sure canvas will be OK, even my old Triumph Spitfire had a mohair hood - canvas (even double-duck!) sounds a bit antiquated to me - would have prefered to see a solid arrangement.

However, from the comments I've heard (along the lines that it is the cleverest piece of hood engineering ever, ever) I'm sure that if it is canvas, it will be very good canvas indeed.

[amg merc]

Marlon said:

[quote=kentviking] However... the cleverest piece of hood engineering ever, ever) I'm sure that if it is canvas, it will be very good canvas indeed.

Just idle speculation, but I'm thinking along the lines of a retractable hood mechanism (I recall the Lancia Beta Montecarlo Spider had a (plastic, I know) hood that disppeared into the rear bulkhead)?!

>> Edited by amg merc on Tuesday 4th May 14:51

[amg merc]

kentviking said:

...noted that my deposit has basically secured the price to £49,995 - he!he!he!, bet the price at launch is gonna be a bit more than that.

Morten, I don't wish to burst your cost bubble but there's small print somewhere relating to spec and price changes at Noble's discretion . If the spec has changed greatly over the past year then you might not get it at this price ...speaking from experience!

[ashp]

I think I read that the new hood has a clever zip arrangement - so I don't expect anything too sophisticated (having had a Mk1 Elise, it's not an issue !). Pricewise, I believe it will be around the 3R level (but i don't have any inside info).

[kentviking]

amg merc said:

speaking from experience!

Do I take it that you had similarly "secured" a price with a deposit only to find that the price went up regardless??? pray tell the story. thanks

[TommyStavale]

I don't understand the desire for this car in a convertible....

Especially since there are rare days of sunshine in the UK Seriously though...seems the car was created as the ultimate driving machine, quick, light, agile, mad handling...drop tops are for Sunday cruises, less spirited drives...certainly not on a knifes edge.

The Ferrari 360 Spyder makes sense since most are owned by those who are not enthusiast drivers. And the serious ones all opt for the coupe.

Just my opinion.

[obes]

TommyStavale said:

I don't understand the desire for this car in a convertible.... Especially since there are rare days of sunshine in the UK Seriously though...seems the car was created as the ultimate driving machine, quick, light, agile, mad handling...drop tops are for Sunday cruises, less spirited drives...certainly not on a knifes edge. The Ferrari 360 Spyder makes sense since most are owned by those who are not enthusiast drivers. And the serious ones all opt for the coupe. Just my opinion.

I think the drop top sports thing is born from the classic sports car days of the Triumphs, Caterhams and Austins. It's always been a big thing with TVR too. Although I'm not a big convertible fan, many would say that a sports car isn't a sports car if the wind isn't rushing through their hair !

[AL001]

I'm with Tommy. Don't know why Noble are making this. Structural stiffness is generally compromised with convertibles, meaning they don;t handle aswell, even if they have extra strengthening (adding weight). Not really ideal for what is meant to be a drivers car.

A Noble for hairdressers.

[kentviking]

TommyStavale said:

I don't understand the desire for this car in a convertible.... Especially since there are rare days of sunshine in the UK Seriously though...seems the car was created as the ultimate driving machine, quick, light, agile, mad handling...drop tops are for Sunday cruises, less spirited drives...certainly not on a knifes edge. The Ferrari 360 Spyder makes sense since most are owned by those who are not enthusiast drivers. And the serious ones all opt for the coupe. Just my opinion.

Well...IMHO...
there are more than enough days of sunshine, even cloudy days...even days when it is simply not raining or snowing, to enjoy this car, and for the rest, there'll be a roof of sorts.
There is nowt wrong in enjoying the ultimate driving machine while also enjoying the elements...and I know plenty of TVRs, Caterhams and other open top sports cars that are taken to the edge (F1 cars were not enclosed last time I looked)
Oh yeah....and it looks the dogs b******s, wingless, sleek and rarer than a 360.

just my humble opinion.

still keen to now AMG's price hike experience if you're there?!

[kentviking]

AL001 said:

I'm with Tommy. Don't know why Noble are making this. Structural stiffness is generally compromised with convertibles, meaning they don;t handle aswell, even if they have extra strengthening (adding weight). Not really ideal for what is meant to be a drivers car. A Noble for hairdressers.

the base for the GTC is the GTO, and guess what the basis for the GTO was?...the M10...an open top sportscar. There will be some extra weight for extra rigidity but as far as driving ability goes the M10 was generally regarded as better than the Elise it was often compared to....

you got a problem with hairdressers? must be one's with good taste far as I can tell...anyhow, from your posting records looks like you've elsewhere shown a keen interest in other drop tops, so why not the noble???

[TommyStavale]

obes said:

[/quote]I think the drop top sports thing is born from the classic sports car days of the Triumphs, Caterhams and Austins. It's always been a big thing with TVR too. Although I'm not a big convertible fan, many would say that a sports car isn't a sports car if the wind isn't rushing through their hair ![/quote]

I understand and agree as I drive a Z8 for that same reason...even owned an MRoadster for a while, and I am not even a hair dresser!

Me thinks the average Noble owner on this board who fancy's a track day or two does not want this car, thusly, so....this car must be for a totally different buyer....IMHO

[SpeedDemon]

I'm sure it won't surprise anyone that most of the guys in California who have recently contacted me re: buying a Noble were all considering the convertible. There will be a large market for the car here!

Marc

[joust]

TommyStavale said:

Me thinks the average Noble owner on this board who fancy's a track day or two does not want this car, thusly, so....this car must be for a totally different buyer....IMHO

Total twaddle

I'll be tracking mine just as much as I do my "classic" fixed head.

As for why I'm buying it, I love convertibles, hence I'll soon have two in my stable.

J

[ashp]

Yep - I'm with Justin. Either you prefer the experience of driving without a roof or not. I'm sure the performance of the GTC will be so close to the GTO 3R that most of us won't notice the difference. I'm just waiting to see the result in 3 weeks time !

Ashley

[amg merc]

kentviking said:

still keen to now AMG's price hike experience if you're there?!

Morten, YHM!