Profile
Long before the Noble supercars, Lee Noble was a well known figure in the kit car industry. One of the prettiest cars he would produce during the late 80s and early 90s was a replica of the 1967 Ferrari 330 P4. Only a few genuine P4s were made until Lee decided to make a road going replica.
Around 1996 Sony International commissioned a P4 kit to be built up to display their $150,000 car stereo system. It was built as a rolling shell with no engine or gearbox and the interior was made from plywood covered in leather to look finished. The car toured a number of high end car shows through the world before finishing up in Dunedin. The car changed hands a few more times slowly deteriorating over the years. It was finally advertised on TradeMe in late 2009. The chassis had been modified to accept a Porsche 911 engine with the body panels removed. By the time it was advertised the chassis had been sitting in student flat garage for over 3 years and buried in rubbish, almost unidentifiable. The body panels had been sitting in someone’s back yard out in the weather and needed a huge amount of work. Altogether about 6000 hours of labour.
The body and interior panels are riveted and bonded to the chassis for rigidity and strength. A 65 Litre alloy fuel tank was built and resides in the entire length of the left hand side sill. The BMW 325 pedal box and brake servo system were overhauled. A new SD1 Rover steering column was sourced as the one in the car had been shortened. Noble used a Ford Sierra XR4i as a donor vehicle for steering, brakes and wheel bearings. The front suspension A arms caused a problem as Noble designed these using thin wall tubing (1.5mm) and MIG welded the joints. Ok in the UK but not compliant in NZ. Using Noble original specs Sheldon Carrington, at Motorsport Developments in Granada North, replicated new front and rear suspension components.
