Noble M12: The £45,000 Car That Humiliated Porsche

The Car Nerd with Jason Hassett · Aug 18, 2026 · 31m

In the summer of 2000, evo magazine strapped timing equipment to a British sports car almost nobody had heard of.It hit 60 mph in 4.1 seconds and 100 mph in 10.2—beating the Porsche 911 GT3, evo’s reigning Car of the Year.The Porsche cost £76,500.The Noble M12 cost £45,000.And its rear lights came from a Ford Mondeo.The M12 was built by Lee Noble, a self-taught engineer with no degree, almost no advertising budget and a habit of walking away from the companies he created. His earlier Ultima chassis had even been used by McLaren during development of the F1.But the M12 would become his…