The Noble M600 has been spotted again, this time in the united Kingdom. It has been about six months since the last set of spy shots emerged featuring this car. At that time, the upcoming British supercar was spied during hot weather testing at Arizona's Firebird Raceway.

Engineers seem to have taken some inspiration from the Ferrari F430 when designing the rear of this vehicle. The shape of the boot lid, and the positioning of the taillights, tailpipes, and rear diffuser all show a bit more than an homage to Pininfarina.

From the front, others have likened this car to everything from a Saleen S7 to the 2004 Chrysler ME Four-Twelve concept car. Although the lines are not particularly original, they do look to be rather effective. We will be very interested to find out about the car's true dimensions, and its drag coefficient.

In the end, expect to see 50 units of the Noble M600 produced every year. Each will have a 4.1-liter twin-turbo Volvo V8 that produces over 600 horsepower. Top speed of the car is expected to be in the 200 mph neighborhood. Noble has not yet announced if they will produce a left-hand-drive kit for export.

The 650bhp Noble M600, for those who love to drive. Designed and engineered with a purity that rewards driver skill, the M600 neither dictates or hinders with unnecessary computer assistance. The Noble M600 puts you back in the drivers seat.

The ethos of the M600 has developed from a small team passionate about driving. This ethos has evolved from our research of the available 'supercars' many of which lean heavily on computer assistance. The use of fashionable, but often inefficient paddle shifts, over assisted brakes and inopportune traction control have all become standard features of the modern supercar.

We at Noble think it is time to break the mould, feeling that this now ubiquitous 'digital' driver assistance disengages the driver experience and reward. We have often encountered, when turning off these devices, that computer generated support can often cosmetically mask and flatter inferior chassis and handling characteristics. We decided that with the introduction of the M600, it was time to 'get back to basics', to concentrate on the more 'analogue' qualities of design utilising a principle of pure engineering integrity from the chassis up, putting you, the driver, back in control.

Ethos

The ethos of the Noble M600 has developed from a small team passionate about driving. This evolved from our research of the available "supercars" most of which lean heavily on computer assistance. The use of fashionable but often inefficient gear paddle shift, over assisted brakes and inopportune traction control have all become standard features of the modern day supercar.

We at Noble Automotive thought it time to break the mould, feeling that this now ubiquitous "digital" driver assistance disengages and negates the driver experience and reward. We have experienced, when turning off these devices, that computer generated support can often cosmetically mask and flatter inferior chassis and handling characteristics. We decided that with the introduction the M600 it was time to "get back to basics," to concentrate on the more "analogue" qualities of design by utilizing a principle of pure engineering integrity from the chassis up, putting the driver back in control.

The philosophy behind this radical and refreshing premise is best summed by Peter Dyson, owner of Noble Automotive Limited:

"Noble is a labour of love, of no compromises and of challenges fought. The car speaks for itself, and absolutely reflects what the Team and I envision a true driver's car should be. It is no question uniquely "out of sync" in today's world, one overrun with cars that cannot make up their minds as to whether they want to be a car that rewards or a car that gives hollow praise by electronically "covering" the errors.

Designed and engineered with a purity that rewards driver skill, the M600 is neither dictated to nor hindered by unnecessary computer assistance. It puts you back in the driving seat.

Put simply the Noble M600 is for those of us who love to drive....

Development

We have heard that there is some stiff competition out there, and although Noble Automotive is a low volume motor manufacturer, we do pride ourselves on our individuality, attention to detail and engineering excellence.

The development of the M600 has been an incredibly intense and rewarding journey, a journey in its literal sense, we shipped the development prototype to the USA.

Crossing the continent from East to West we experienced the most dramatic and demanding of climates and terrains in order to prove and test the efficacy and engineering of the M600. In company, for comparative purposes, with a Porsche Carrera GT and, for some of the journey, a Ferrari Enzo. We drove from Chicago westwards; the journey included every type of environment, from the incredibly hot Death Valley in California to the mountains and snow of Utah, from the infamous Pikes Peak to the Bonneville Salt Flats, and finally, to a hot and dusty race track in Phoenix Arizona where the M600 was tested and evaluated against some of the fastest and most respected supercars in the world.

Nearer to home, in the UK we completed a full wind tunnel aero program. Climactic wind tunnel testing and durability program. Acoustic noise, vibration and harshness testing. Four post rig for damper and suspension tuning and thousands of miles of both road and track testing.

Design

Design is of course subjective, beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder. However there are certain design absolutes, particularly when creating a supercar featuring such massive power and performance, which dictate, in order to have full aerodynamic and cooling efficiency certain design criteria must be met.

It is our belief that form should always follow function, there is much in the philosophy "if it looks right it probably is right."

Utilizing extensive wind tunnel testing we have strived to maintain the form to be as minimalist as possible whilst providing the ultimate aerodynamic and cooling efficiency. Nothing is cosmetic: every element of the shape and design is intrinsic to the effectiveness of the performance.

We feel that the "purity" of design gives the M600 an understated purposeful gravitas that stands out in the crowd.

What lies beneath...

Noble Automotive take great pride in our reputation for the excellent ride and handling of our performance cars. We firmly believe that the chassis is the fundamental foundation of any performance car. This is particularly the case with cars which do not feature a great deal of computer technology. Computer assistance can often mask deficits in the chassis design and it is not until these electronic driver aids are turned off that the flaws are revealed.

There is no engineering logic which dictates that precise and effective handling should be to the detriment of comfort and ride quality. We believe that an effectively designed and engineered chassis should be able to combine both high speed availability and driver comfort. Our engineering, based on a "back to basics" ethos, devotes a huge amount of time and resources in ensuring that the chassis is as efficient and effective as possible. This is ably demonstrated by the M600, the high speed handling is superb and the ride is both comfortable and smooth.

The chassis built by hand for both safety and efficiency features:

• Stainless steel and aluminum tub construction with an integral safety cell
• High "H" point sill sections for side impact protection
• Rear crash structure
• Front boot carbon composite

Safety

The M600 has a massive 650 hp available, this amount of power, or indeed the power delivery, is not always either appropriate or required, however with the Adaptable Performance Control function you can select the power output to reflect both the location and suitable driving conditions.

The M600 features three APC settings, the chosen setting is displayed on both the APC dial and the dashboard display. The APC adjusts not the just the power output but also tailors the boost curve, traction and throttle response relative to the selected mode.