Following the conclusion of a major conflict, to get production going again, car manufacturers were forced to build cars from whatever limited parts were available. This was the case with the German Messerschmitt company following World War 2 who were not allowed to manufacture aircraft and so turned to making other products such as their 1955 KR200 bubble car, or Kabinenroller (Cabin Scooter) based on an invalid carriage designed by Fend Flitzer.
The story of the Irish built Noble microcar begins in Vienna, Austria in 1922 with the birth of Jakob Knoblauch. Not much is known about the early life of Jakob until he moved to Britain in the late 1940s and eager to be successful in business, changed his name to York Noble.
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In May 1956 Noble Motors, Ltd., was established and soon after the company secured the UK licence to build the German Heinkel Kabine bubble car. However, in 1958 the York Noble company lost this manufacturing licence and production was then transferred to the Dundalk Engineering Company, County Louth, Ireland.
NEW CAR
A new model lineup to replace the Heinkel bubble car was urgently required and by December 1957 York Noble had negotiated the German Fuldamobil as a replacement to the Heinkel Kabine. The original Fuldamobil design was created in the 1940s by freelance journalist Norbert Stevenson with financial backing from Karl Schmitt from Fulda, Germany. Stevenson developed a basic three-wheeled car that initially accommodated two people, later, a four-seater version was added to the lineup.
A new company, York Noble Industries was incorporated with offices at 33 Park Lane, London, W1 and by June 1958, the company revealed plans to launch a new lineup featuring two vehicles: the Nobel 200 limousine, a hard-top saloon, and the Nobel 200 ‘Vicky,’ which was described as a versatile van/ pickup with a detachable canvas top and side panels. Both vehicles would be offered either as ready-to-drive models or as kits for self-assembly. York Noble designated these cars as redesigned versions of the German Fuldamobil S-7, and with the exception of the Sachs engine, they would be entirely built in Britain.
NORTHERN IRELAND
A few months before York Noble had made his Fuldamobil announcement, Sir Mathew Slattery the Chairman of Short Brothers aircraft and shipbuilders of Belfast had sent a negotiation team to explore the viability of building the Fuldamobil S-7 under licence in Northern Ireland.
Negotiations continued and by September 1958, Cyril Lord, who ran a large carpet factory in Donaghadee, County Down, was appointed chairman of York Noble Industries. He announced shortly thereafter that assembly would be carried out by Short Brothers & Harland Ltd at the Glen Works in Newtownards, County Down, although about 90% of the manufacture of parts was to be completed elsewhere.
Along with various local suppliers from across Northern Ireland, York Noble assembled subcontractors to produce their cars, including the Bristol Aeroplane Company (fibreglass body shell), Rubery Owen (chassis) and ZF Sachs of Germany to manufacture the two-stroke engines.
Towards the end of 1958 Formula One World Champion Mike Hawthorn became associated with Noble cars and was announced in the role of Technical Director for York Noble industries.
NOBEL MICROCARS
The rectangular box-section steel tube chassis was built by Rubery Owen. Their design was mostly similar to the original Fuldamobil S7, and featured only minor differences, which made the Nobel slightly heavier overall.
The vehicles were manufactured with a solid roof and were primarily available in right-hand drive with eight-inch wheels and a spare wheel as standard.
Top speed from the rear mounted 191cc Sachs two-stroke engine, which had four forward gears and four reverse gears was an impressive 40mph with two persons on board with 60mpg economy, other Sachs engines were also available from 200cc up to 360cc).
At their factory at Coalpit Heath near Bristol, the Bristol Aeroplane Company made the fibreglass bodies, that were unlike the original German design Fuldamobils which used aluminium panels fixed onto a wooden frame.
All production cars were painted white with peacock blue lower sections, separated by the Nobel’s distinctive Z-shaped moulding. Initially, new injection moulding techniques were used, but these proved unreliable for larger bodies. As a result, traditional fibreglass lay-up methods were adopted, with regular shipments of the bodies between Bristol and Larne Harbour.
FULL PRODUCTION
While the production line was being built at the Glen Works in Newtownards, County Down, German built Fuldamobils S-7s were imported to fulfil orders.
The run up to full production encountered several delays. The initial Fuldamobil front brake system proved prone to faults, causing production delays of several months while it was fixed. Also later in production we believe there was a full recall as the steering was prone to seizure as it passed through a dashboard mounted aluminium bracket.
In February 1959, production of fully assembled three-wheel saloon cars began and four-wheeled versions of the saloon were available as an option, or for export markets. With a retail price in Ireland and Britain of £317 before purchase tax, the Noble was aside from the four-seater Reliant Regal, the priciest three-wheeled car on the market at the time.
EXPORT MARKET
In April 1959, a single car was shipped in kit form to New York, but by May 1959, the Noble Press Office announced that kits would not be available for sale for at least another six months and it remains unclear today if any cars were ever sold as kits.
PRODUCTION CAPABILITY
The Shorts factory’s capability was often cited as 250 cars per week. However, despite reports of large orders in the press, chassis numbers reveal that only about 400 cars had been produced by January 1960.
In a reflection of the distribution practices of the early 1960’s Marshall Fenton recalled how when he was working in Sydney Pentland car dealers on the Ravenhill Road, Belfast he remembered two of the older mechanics talking about the Noble microcars. Apparently when the microcars were built, they only put enough petrol in them to get them started so they would tow 4 or 5 of them behind a Vauxhall Victor from Short Brothers. The mechanics said going through the big junction at the bottom of the Ravenhill Road was good craic for the people in the last cars!
EXPENSIVE CAR
In Ireland and Britain, the Noble’s retail price was widely viewed as very high, and production costs offered little flexibility of price reduction. The Bristol Aeroplane Company’s 1959 attempt to increase body contract prices led Shorts to announce a production move to their Queen’s Island factory in Belfast that autumn. However, the high costs of transporting components and shipping completed cars back to the British marketplace made long-term production unviable and on 4th August 1959, Shorts announced they would cease production after 1,500 cars.
Days after this announcement, a major strike at Short Brothers & Harland erupted over proposed redundancies. The strike ended after a few weeks but failed to resolve the production cost issues of the Nobel cars.
THE END
As Noble Chairman Cyril Lord announced the end of microcar production at Short Brothers, he also revealed that he was in talks at the time with several English companies to continue production beginning in 1960. Among them, the Fairey Aviation Company in Stockport was set to manufacture two new models: a Nobel “utility” car and a sports convertible, though they would not produce the 200 saloons. There was also unconfirmed reports of Lea Francis cars merging with York Noble Industries.
The Fuldamobil S-7 design was licensed for production in multiple countries, each adopting a different name for the vehicle. In Ireland and Britain, it was known as the Nobel (a name also used in Chile and Turkey). In India, it was called the Hans Vahaar; in the Netherlands, it was the Bambino; in Argentina, it was the Bambi; in Sweden, it was the Fram King Fulda; and in Greece, it was referred to as the Alta or Attica.
Production ceased in 1959 and it is believed that only 1,500 York Noble microcars were built under licence in County Down, with only 30-40 models believed to still exist.
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Sources of Information and Photo Credits:
Classic Cars – Brightwells
Classic Scooterist
Collections – University of St Andrews
Creative Commons
eBay
First Showing of the Ulster-built Nobel 200 – The Ulster Gazette – 24 February 1958
Jonathan Poll
Mr Lord prepared for talks on Nobel contract – The Belfast News-Letter – 14 August 1959
Nobel car production to be switched from Ulster – The Belfast News-Letter – 4 August 1959
Retrorambling
The First Nobel – The Autocar – 27 February 1959
Webtekno
Worth Point
If you have an idea for a story, email Kevin Reid [email protected]
