RE: Noble M600 reborn and revisited

RE: Noble M600 reborn and revisited

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Discussion

toppstuff

13,698 posts

247 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
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Ozzie Osmond said:
bimbeano said:
toppstuff said:
The Noble is really something people into classic cars may buy if they wanted something new. It appeals to a completely different set of priorities.
Yep ! Spot on !!!
Which presumably explains why Noble haven't sold any. Why on earth would someone who is into classic cars want to splash £200k on something brand new? It's nonsense.
I disagree.

I am seriously into classic cars. If I had more money, I would be in deep. But I know plenty of people who have dropped lots and lots of money ( nice farmhouse with a pool and acres of land money ) into cars that they love. Modern sportscars with auto boxes lack character for them. They just don't buy them. These are people with pre-war Bentleys, a Daytona and a DB5 in the garage.

I am pretty certain these sort of buyers would definitely "get" the Noble M600. It is right up their street. Problem is that none of them have really seen one. Thats down to Noble's marketing - they really should target this kind of buyer IMO. They should be able to sell a few dozen a year to such people and that would be a big increase for them.

BigChiefmuffinAgain

1,062 posts

98 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
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I think that people who are comparing the car against a Ferrari or McLaren, saying it ( rather obviously ) comes up short and therefore they would not buy one and therefore it is a waste of time ( to paraphrase ) are missing the point.

For your "average" buyer of a Ferrari or McLaren, it will not be their only car, but just one of a collection. These people ( and I am sadly not one ) are looking for different cars for different drives and moods. If anything, from what I have read, the Modena and Woking cars are, if anything, too similar, covering most of the bases equally well most of the time.

The Noble has a place when these people are looking to drive something different. You can easily see why, given the resources, you may well want one of these to sit alongside your 488 or whatever.

However, I do agree with other comments that while the Noble is undoubtedly a fine beast, the team there have not done a great job keeping it in the public's mind ( or, more importantly, the super premium buyers mind ). It has rather dropped of the radar - I hope this and the new targa can help but it can't be easy to do much when only selling a handful of cars a year....

LG04

241 posts

207 months

Friday 5th August 2016
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Drove one last week, One of the fastest cars I've driven, Proper car as good as F40

LG04

241 posts

207 months

Friday 5th August 2016
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Drove one last week, One of the fastest cars I've driven, Proper car as good as F40

Dan_M5

615 posts

143 months

Friday 5th August 2016
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Amazing cars. I've been lucky enough to be in the workshop on a few occasions it's so impressive that they are all built there.

In fact when I went to pick up the m5 there was one being filled up at the petrol station and the owner puts his foot down most the time!

macky17

2,212 posts

189 months

Friday 5th August 2016
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Reading this thread, the ratio of people who'd buy one to people who wouldn't seems to be around 1:2 - that's pretty good (especially as an awful lot of those 2s would change their minds pretty quickly if they borrowed one for a day). If we start threads on the relative merits of the 458, the 650S, etc. I doubt they would score much higher. Why? Because we all have different tastes. There's more than enough merit to the m600 for it to sell at this price in sufficient numbers: perhaps the Wonder Woman movie will give it the kick it needs in terms of public awareness. I want noble to makes lots of money and then design something else I CAN afford.

Edited by macky17 on Friday 5th August 09:26

Alias218

1,496 posts

162 months

Friday 5th August 2016
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There are a lot of people on here who are declaring their undying love for the M600, however as most of us are probably people of modest means it's easy to say what you would and wouldn't have when you aren't actually putting down hard cash. Given the actual opportunity to buy, I'm sure most people's enthusiasm for the car would diminish once they got behind the wheel of any established supercar manufacturer product. They can all deliver the same (most probably better) performance, fit and finish, and reliability while also throwing in better provenance and looks. Let's be honest as awesome as it does look, it's no *insert top brand name here* and most definitely has a whiff of garden shed about it. And I think that's the problem - when it comes down to the hard sell, most people would opt for the mainstream brands. Belonging to a world of posers buying the latest en vogue garage queens, a six year old design isn't going to have much swaying power.

Me? I'd certainly give it a shot. I love the car, but without being in the position to buy I can't say I'd have one.

However, as a said man of modest means looking through the oh-so-thick window of Noble's shop front makes me think one thing: gimme gimme gimme!

Duffman83

180 posts

164 months

Friday 5th August 2016
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In the 6 years, how many have actually been sold?

Duffman83

180 posts

164 months

Friday 5th August 2016
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Alias218 said:
There are a lot of people on here who are declaring their undying love for the M600, however as most of us are probably people of modest means it's easy to say what you would and wouldn't have when you aren't actually putting down hard cash. Given the actual opportunity to buy, I'm sure most people's enthusiasm for the car would diminish once they got behind the wheel of any established supercar manufacturer product. They can all deliver the same (most probably better) performance, fit and finish, and reliability while also throwing in better provenance and looks. Let's be honest as awesome as it does look, it's no *insert top brand name here* and most definitely has a whiff of garden shed about it. And I think that's the problem - when it comes down to the hard sell, most people would opt for the mainstream brands. Belonging to a world of posers buying the latest en vogue garage queens, a six year old design isn't going to have much swaying power.

Me? I'd certainly give it a shot. I love the car, but without being in the position to buy I can't say I'd have one.

However, as a said man of modest means looking through the oh-so-thick window of Noble's shop front makes me think one thing: gimme gimme gimme!
I remember reading on the last thread about Noble about a chap who was in the position to buy one, went and had a look at it, loved the engineering and performance, but when it came down to it, it's too much money to drop on a product where there is no idea what sort of residual value it will have and also, with a distinct lack of sales, where is the company going to be in a few years. Whats the point of spending close to 300K on something where the company might no longer be in business.

I genuinely think that at the pricepoint it is, it's a no mans land for selling cars. The game has moved on dramatically in the last 15 years that you really can't take on the big boys. I reckon the sub 80K sportscar is where Noble should be along with TVR and Lotus and Morgan.

saxy

258 posts

124 months

Friday 5th August 2016
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Ozzie Osmond said:
saxy said:
Most supercar buyers are posers. A brand that nobody knows is worthless to many people, especially girls.
Sorry buddy, that's the same excuse made very time a car doesn't cut the mustard. Makes you wonder how McLaren has managed to rise from a standing start to become one of the world's leading supercar builders. Get the product/price right and customers will come.

Noble started out at a time when the name "Noble" was closely associated in the public's mind with Richard Noble, then world speed record holder (irrespective of the fact there was no actual connection) and this undoubtedly helped get things started. Since then they've lost their way - someone said losing money on every M400 sold. It was very high risk to try to solve that problem by launching a grossly expensive car which none of their existing customers would be able to afford.
Seriously? You're trying to say that Mclaren, who is a proven Formula 1 team, and who has made arguably the most amazing supercar ever, is just like Noble in terms of brand awareness and credibility?

Mind you the Mclaren embarrasses Ferraris and Porsches, has a carbon tub, and many driver aids. It even rides more comfortably than any supercar before.

FWDRacer

3,564 posts

224 months

Friday 5th August 2016
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I'd love to have a go in one...

....then hand them the keys back, because simply I'd not want to own it.

Therin lies the problem - not enough emotional appeal to forgive its low-tech sales stance (especially in the rarified atmosphere of 200K). Maybe it would sell if it had a track pedigree scratchchin

dpop

210 posts

132 months

Friday 5th August 2016
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I really want one!

However - I think the main issue here is the fact that you can buy the other one (M12) for just over £30k now, and the other-other one (M400) for £50-£60k... now I know the used vs new comparison doesn't usually work but if you're after a track car and a Noble specifically then those seem like a much better option.

The £200k+ category is not really where the large trackday audience is found - instead there are many more types of vehicles to tempt your money away.
Lots of discussion on here about the Ferrari/Mclaren choices if you want to combine posing around with the odd track day, but also some very fine classics to be found in this price range if you're just after an "interesting" car, and in terms of pure track toys you're into actual competition spec vehicles at this price point.

From the press release it seems they are mainly looking at the trackday audience...but that takes us back to the second hand Noble market, at 1/10th to 1/5th of the price.. Confusing!

toppstuff

13,698 posts

247 months

Friday 5th August 2016
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dpop said:
I really want one!

However - I think the main issue here is the fact that you can buy the other one (M12) for just over £30k now, and the other-other one (M400) for £50-£60k... now I know the used vs new comparison doesn't usually work but if you're after a track car and a Noble specifically then those seem like a much better option.

The £200k+ category is not really where the large trackday audience is found - instead there are many more types of vehicles to tempt your money away.
Lots of discussion on here about the Ferrari/Mclaren choices if you want to combine posing around with the odd track day, but also some very fine classics to be found in this price range if you're just after an "interesting" car, and in terms of pure track toys you're into actual competition spec vehicles at this price point.

From the press release it seems they are mainly looking at the trackday audience...but that takes us back to the second hand Noble market, at 1/10th to 1/5th of the price.. Confusing!
This is NOT targeted at track day users. Although no doubt it would be pretty good fun.

This is targeted at a few dozen people a year who want a very fast car that is beautifully made and does not have a double clutch box and lots of driver aids.

I don't see the appeal of the auto - it makes the car too close to obvious McLaren and Ferrari.

The manual is what it is all about - an old school, hand made car without all the tarting and faff and baggage of the "lifestyle" brands. This is not a car intended for "supercar kids" on youtube. That is the whole point of it.

I think I "get" the appeal. Seeing yet another rich kid or wannabee in a Ferrari means little to me. This will attract only a small portion of the market. But that is just fine.

dpop

210 posts

132 months

Friday 5th August 2016
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toppstuff said:
This is NOT targeted at track day users. Although no doubt it would be pretty good fun.

This is targeted at a few dozen people a year who want a very fast car that is beautifully made and does not have a double clutch box and lots of driver aids.

I don't see the appeal of the auto - it makes the car too close to obvious McLaren and Ferrari.

The manual is what it is all about - an old school, hand made car without all the tarting and faff and baggage of the "lifestyle" brands. This is not a car intended for "supercar kids" on youtube. That is the whole point of it.

I think I "get" the appeal. Seeing yet another rich kid or wannabee in a Ferrari means little to me. This will attract only a small portion of the market. But that is just fine.
OK, I understand that - and I think that's great. But unfortunately no surprise then that they haven't sold many of them frown

thegreenhell

15,359 posts

219 months

Friday 5th August 2016
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I like it, but I think if I had that sort of money to spend on a heavily-turbocharged analogue supercar I'd be looking for an XJ220.

Boshly

2,776 posts

236 months

Saturday 6th August 2016
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Talk is cheap. The fact is hardly anyone has bought one. Capable as it may be something isn't right or very simply they would have sold more than a handful.

I would wager more F40's and Paganis have been sold in the period it's been available than M600's and they're rare as rocking horse poo.

I reiterate, it's not sold for a reason. McLarens and Ferraris do well, for a reason. And before anyone says posers etc if you only took enthusiastic buyers of say Speciale and 675 (similar price points) they have sold many many many multiples of what the M600 has.

Capable car I'm sure with what people are saying but too many compromises for those that actually would pay that sort of money.

toppstuff

13,698 posts

247 months

Saturday 6th August 2016
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Boshly said:
Talk is cheap. The fact is hardly anyone has bought one. Capable as it may be something isn't right or very simply they would have sold more than a handful.

I would wager more F40's and Paganis have been sold in the period it's been available than M600's and they're rare as rocking horse poo.

I reiterate, it's not sold for a reason. McLarens and Ferraris do well, for a reason. And before anyone says posers etc if you only took enthusiastic buyers of say Speciale and 675 (similar price points) they have sold many many many multiples of what the M600 has.

Capable car I'm sure with what people are saying but too many compromises for those that actually would pay that sort of money.
The intention is to to sell as many as say, McLaren will sell 675s. Noble production is just maybe 2 a month max.

I can understand why some people would pick this over a Speciale or 675. It is analogue vs digital.

But then I would also prefer an F40 over a La Ferrari. And I'd take a 74' 911RS over a new 911 / 991 RSR. There are not many people around like that. Noble isn't doing good job of finding the few that are, but I think they are out there.

PunterCam

1,073 posts

195 months

Sunday 7th August 2016
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SturdyHSV said:
Fetchez la vache said:
cypriot said:
This car is essentially the Pagani of the UK.
This in bucketloads.
You're probably right, so do the relative success just boil down to looks and having a huge NA V12?

I mean, the Noble M12 was released in 2000 with a Mondeo V6 and looking... a bit odd. The Zonda C12 was released around the same time looking stunning with a Mercedes V12.

Look who can now charge millions for their cars...
Pagani went down the road of perfection. I want a Pagani, and I would want it if it had a vw diesel in it. The way it's assembled, the way it's all so bespoke.. It's big manufacturer development from a small company, and that's so desirable.. Has any manufacturer done interiors better? It matters.

I like Noble, but it's TVR without the huge pile of drugs that presumably sat in the middle of their design office in the mid 90s. Which is great if you're buying an £100k sports car that's quicker than a £200k Ferrari, but I'm not sure it flies when competing directly..

I hope it can sell and they can continue to develop though.

Boshly

2,776 posts

236 months

Sunday 7th August 2016
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toppstuff said:
Boshly said:
Talk is cheap. The fact is hardly anyone has bought one. Capable as it may be something isn't right or very simply they would have sold more than a handful.

I would wager more F40's and Paganis have been sold in the period it's been available than M600's and they're rare as rocking horse poo.

I reiterate, it's not sold for a reason. McLarens and Ferraris do well, for a reason. And before anyone says posers etc if you only took enthusiastic buyers of say Speciale and 675 (similar price points) they have sold many many many multiples of what the M600 has.

Capable car I'm sure with what people are saying but too many compromises for those that actually would pay that sort of money.
The intention is to to sell as many as say, McLaren will sell 675s. Noble production is just maybe 2 a month max.

I can understand why some people would pick this over a Speciale or 675. It is analogue vs digital.

But then I would also prefer an F40 over a La Ferrari. And I'd take a 74' 911RS over a new 911 / 991 RSR. There are not many people around like that. Noble isn't doing good job of finding the few that are, but I think they are out there.
But that's the point. You say you prefer an F40 over a LaF but you haven't bought an M600. And many people claim the same but they haven't bought one either.

Lastly M laren have sold 1000+ 675's of both types. Noble have sold 10/20?

smithyithy

7,256 posts

118 months

Sunday 7th August 2016
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Why did they stop making the M12 cars though? Surely there's more profitability in the cheaper, higher volume track cars like that.

There were 3 or 4 at the Pistonheads Silverstone Sunday Service, I've never seen an M600 on the road..