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RIP - BIll Noble - FV Champion driver and engine builder
Started by
S A Dunbar
, Jan 21 2011 20:55
7 replies to this topic
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#2
E1pix
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Posted 21 January 2011 - 21:22
Thank You for posting this.
I actually have a great Bill Noble story. In 1981, my wife and I traveled from Denver to the Runoffs at Road Atlanta during a series of maybe 8 years that I walked around the paddock doing sign painting on race cars (we would have gone as spectators regardless). On the way there, the previous Friday night to the races, our Fiat 131 lost an axle bearing in Wakeeney, Kansas. Recognizing that that town wasn't a hotbed for Fiat repair, I phoned a friend in Denver to find and shuttle out a new bearing, fixing the car overnight Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning we hauled butt the remaining 1,100 miles to the track. Well short of funds, my plan was to letter on Thursday and finance the trip home.
Thursday dawned cold and threatening of rain, so we made a beeline to the Paddock. Panicking, as we hadn't enough cash to get home, I approached Bill and he had me letter "Caracal Cars" on his Formula Vee. We talked the whole time, he was one real racer and having been a fan of his for a decade before, you'd think I was lettering for Mario or AJ. To me, he was just like them. He was a Legend, and built the best motors in that era as well.
I charged him $30, did another job for $40, watched the races, and ran out of gas and money 70 miles from Denver. We had to sell my spare wheel and tire to get home.
My wife and I sat and spoke with Bill at the Runoffs in 2008. He remembered our time together in 1981, and we paged through a Runoffs magazine I'd produced in 1975 that he also recalled. A great man to the end.
Godspeed, Mr. Noble.
I actually have a great Bill Noble story. In 1981, my wife and I traveled from Denver to the Runoffs at Road Atlanta during a series of maybe 8 years that I walked around the paddock doing sign painting on race cars (we would have gone as spectators regardless). On the way there, the previous Friday night to the races, our Fiat 131 lost an axle bearing in Wakeeney, Kansas. Recognizing that that town wasn't a hotbed for Fiat repair, I phoned a friend in Denver to find and shuttle out a new bearing, fixing the car overnight Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning we hauled butt the remaining 1,100 miles to the track. Well short of funds, my plan was to letter on Thursday and finance the trip home.
Thursday dawned cold and threatening of rain, so we made a beeline to the Paddock. Panicking, as we hadn't enough cash to get home, I approached Bill and he had me letter "Caracal Cars" on his Formula Vee. We talked the whole time, he was one real racer and having been a fan of his for a decade before, you'd think I was lettering for Mario or AJ. To me, he was just like them. He was a Legend, and built the best motors in that era as well.
I charged him $30, did another job for $40, watched the races, and ran out of gas and money 70 miles from Denver. We had to sell my spare wheel and tire to get home.
My wife and I sat and spoke with Bill at the Runoffs in 2008. He remembered our time together in 1981, and we paged through a Runoffs magazine I'd produced in 1975 that he also recalled. A great man to the end.
Godspeed, Mr. Noble.
#3
E1pix
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Posted 21 January 2011 - 21:25
An interesting irony just came to me....
I posted about Gordon Smiley within an hour ago.... if I'm correct, both men were from Shawnee Mission, Kansas, back in the day.
I posted about Gordon Smiley within an hour ago.... if I'm correct, both men were from Shawnee Mission, Kansas, back in the day.
#4
RA Historian
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Posted 21 January 2011 - 22:02
A nice man. Very fast in a Vee, and very fair. Story has been told often, but worth repeating. Bill built a lot of vee engines, and in order to give his customers as good an engine as he ran, he had a standing offer to trade the engine out of his Vee at any time, no questions asked. He was occasionally taken up on it, and it always proved that a Noble engine was not only strong, but equal.
Beyond that, it was always a pleasure to stop by Bill and Lisa Noble's trailer in the paddock. A lot of people will write a lot more things than me, but I always admired Bill. As I said, a nice man.
Tom
Beyond that, it was always a pleasure to stop by Bill and Lisa Noble's trailer in the paddock. A lot of people will write a lot more things than me, but I always admired Bill. As I said, a nice man.
Tom
#5
jjordan
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Posted 21 January 2011 - 23:25
Gordon Smiley was actually from Nebraska, although he lived for a time in Shawnee Mission. He later moved to Texas. Bill Noble was from Manhatten, Kansas, a nice college town about 45 min west of Topeka on I-70.
#6
E1pix
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Posted 22 January 2011 - 00:00
Gordon Smiley was actually from Nebraska, although he lived for a time in Shawnee Mission. He later moved to Texas. Bill Noble was from Manhatten, Kansas, a nice college town about 45 min west of Topeka on I-70.
Manhatten, absolutely correct. Apologies.
#7
JacnGille
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Posted 22 January 2011 - 02:12
I watched Bill race many times when the Runoffs were at Road Atlanta.
#8
jjordan
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Posted 22 January 2011 - 14:13
E1pix you were absolutely correct on Mr Noble being very talented and a very nice guy.
