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Nobel 200 1978.731 MOTAT Road Transport Collection
The Nobel 200, with its rear-hinged doors, three wheels and Jetsons-esque bubble shape is one of the most distinctive cars in MOTAT’s collection. Of the thousand Nobels made between 1958 and 1961, only thirty remain in existence today. Motat’s Nobel is currently being restored by our Road Transport volunteers.
The Nobel was one of the first production cars to have a fibreglass body, weighing just 310 kg. Despite this, the car has a top speed of only 50-55 mph (80-90 kph). This lack of speed is due to the Nobel’s 191cc engine, which produces 10.2 bhp, about the same amount of power as a modern-day scooter or go-kart engine.
Strangely the Nobel’s gear box has four forward gears, but no reverse gear. Instead, when the driver wants to reverse, he has to stop the engine completely and then restart it backwards. This means that all four gears are available while reversing!
You can see the Nobel 200 on display outside the MOTAT Shop all January.
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