Remember Shuanghuan Automobile's Noble, the Chinese minicar that blatantly copies the design of the previous Smart Fortwo? Well, the Noble has made its appearance in several European countries including Greece where Smart's parent company, Daimler, naturally decided to take the importer, 'China Motors', to court in order to block the sale of the car in the Mediterranean country on the basis that infringes its design copyright for the ForTwo. Easy decision, right? Wrong...
Believe it or not, according to China Motors, a Greek court in Piraeus has just dismissed Daimler's claim on the basis that "an informed buyer would not confuse the Noble with the Smart Fortwo."
The judgment goes on to say that "it is commonly acknowledged that a decision to buy a car should not depend solely on the vehicle's exterior styling, but also on the technical features such as the automobile's engine."
In this aspect, China Motors said that the court took into consideration the fact that the Noble differs significantly in technical specifications from the Smart Fortwo as it is longer (3meters vs 2.5meters), it has two extra seats at the back and it incorporates a front-mounted engine sending power to the front wheels whereas the Fortwo has a rear-mounted engine that drives the rear wheels.
As for the styling similarities, the court ruled that they are "the result of their common nature", referring to the fact they belong to the same category of vehicles (minicars)!
In other words, according to the Piraeus court's reason, Chinese automakers can sell any clone they want in Greece as long as the technical specifications differ from the original product. Yep, we're pretty much convinced by now that for this particular judge, the MacPherson strut and Ellie MacPherson's butt are one in the same...
According to China Motors, the Noble will go on sale in Greece sometime during the second half of the year.
Now that’s a surprise. British sports car company Noble, has sold the manufacturing rights for its discontinued M12 and M400 models to its American distributor, 1gRacing. The 
PRESS RELEASE: Retaining full rights to the car in the UK and control over the use of trademarks and naming, Noble Automotive has agreed to assign the manufacturing rights to the M12/400 series vehicle to 1g Racing. The assignment allows 1g, based in
Under the terms of the agreement, 1g is required to re-badge and re-name the car by July 15th 2007, and is permitted to modify the vehicle to suit the needs of the g1 customer.
In a statment, Lee Noble said:
'The M12 has been a very successful model for Noble Automotive and we have learned much from it. Our new model will be a big step forward and this will leave no room in our line up for the M12/400 as we need to coneentrate all of our attention on the development of our new model. However we will remain committed to all Noble owners, and will maintain the supply of all M12 and M400 parts for our owners and dealers.'
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Noble unveiled its new lightweight supercar, M15, equipped with a 3.0 V6 Twin Turbocharged engine that pumps out 455 bhp. The M15 will remain faithful to the company’s M14 concept as a user-friendly supercar –with 300 litres of luggage space divided between the front and rear compartments, but will have an all-new chassis, drivetrain configuration, interior and body - as well as more power.With a guide price of £75,000 the M15 represents a major departure from Noble’s current models. It will target buyers who are seeking a more exclusive and driver-focused alternative to mid-engined cars in the £110-130k price bracket, while also tempting those who are eyeing up the 2007 Lotus Esprit.
“The M15’s fresh styling and engineering emphasise our desire to present a genuinely all-new car to the market,” said Lee Noble, Noble’s MD and design chief. “While the Noble M12 series continues to win us accolades for its performance and dynamics, we’ve worked hard to ensure that the M15 is in a different league altogether. As before, this has been achieved without us having to resort to big, heavy engines or trick electronics. The M15 will be nothing less than a pure-bred driving machine.”
With a 455bhp version of the tried and trusted three-litre twin turbo V6 engine Noble has come to rely on, this is the quickest car ever to emerge from Barwell, Leicestershire. With the complementary figure of 455lb/ft of torque, all in a car that weighs slightly more than 1200kg, the M15 is devastatingly fast.
The M15 accelerates from 0-60mph in less than 3.3 seconds and 10 100mph in less than 8s. It keeps going all the way to 185mph, too, and has been tuned for rapid acceleration throughout the range rather than an easily achievable 200mph top end speed.
Weigh distribution has also improved over the existing model to 42:58 per cent, front:rear, due to the engine and gearbox assembly being moved forward by 300 mm
Noble M15 highlights:
Noble M15 Price:
The M15 will sit above Noble’s current models from launch, leaving the completed range as follows:
Noble M15: £75,000 (est)
Noble M400: £55,995
Noble M12 GTO-3R: £49,950
