It’s coming as much as a yr since I requested a supplier on PH very kindly if I may take their Noble M12 for a spin and make a video about it. And regardless that there were quite a lot of track-focused automobiles I have pushed since, together with our very personal home made hero, not anything compares to the sensation of astonishment at how totally elegant a sports activities automobile can really feel when, to start with look, it appears to be like to had been glued in combination by means of a bloke in a shed.

That automobile was once a GTO-3, the M12’s first primary replace and a large one at that. The primary distinction was once the improve from a 2.5- to three.0-litre twin-turbo V6, bringing with it a 40hp bounce, whilst the follow-up GTO-3R would throw a six-speed guide gearbox and Quaife limited-slip differential into the combination. Those two iterations make up the majority of M12 gross sales (in step with the discussion board at the topic, a minimum of) with the rarest of the bunch additionally being the overall and craziest style of the lot – the M400. Neatly, earlier than Noble bought the rights to the M12 platform to everybody and their mum.

If the GTO-3 was once a step up from the usual M12, the M400 was once a large jump. Even though Noble caught with its tried-and-true 3.0-litre Ford V6, the internals got a as soon as over and upgraded with cast pistons, high-lift cams and higher cooling, earlier than a couple of uprated T28 Garrett turbochargers had been strapped on. The ensuing 431hp – 73hp greater than the GTO-3 – will have to had been eye-opening, in particular when all it needed to shift alongside was once a smidgen over a tonne’s price of plastic and metal. 

Higher nonetheless had been the entire glossy new chassis parts. The springs and dampers had been upgraded and stiffened to deal with the surge in energy, whilst further guidance lock was once factored in to make the entrance finish much less reactive at excessive velocity. Crucially, regardless that, an anti-roll bar was once added up entrance. Noble famously did away with them at the M12 to (it sounds as if) support the journey high quality over our dreadful roads. And whilst the GTO-3 I drove did journey unusually smartly for a home made sports activities automobile, one commenter identified that the omission of anti-roll bars was once most certainly to stay a lid on prices. Both manner, you get one within the M400.

Reviewers went mad for it again in 2004, with many claiming the upgrades had a transformative impact at the automobile’s dealing with – hardly ever a space that was once missing at the GTO-3. Noble would move directly to construct simply 75 examples of the M400 earlier than manufacturing got here to an result in 2007 and the chassis rights had been allotted in every single place. Some fitted greater, extra robust engines and mated them with some questionable redesigns, however the M400 will endlessly move down as without equal M12 and, naturally, probably the most sought-after by means of creditors.

There’s simplest one on the market on PH on the time of writing and it’s an actual corker. Monza Pink, simplest 30,000 miles at the clock and an in depth carrier historical past counsel it’s been smartly sorted by means of its earlier house owners. And would you take a look at the internal? That Alcantara appears to be like as recent as it will have executed 18 years in the past. It even comes with air-con, an non-compulsory further on the time and, whilst slightly unnecessary now, ought to come back in mighty at hand one day. The vendor’s asking £64,995 for it, which is an even previous top rate over a GTO-3. However for the rarest M12 within the line and the only the reviewers raved about, it’s undoubtedly price mulling over. Nonetheless a heck of so much inexpensive than an M500, too. 

Engine: 2,968cc V6, twin-turbocharged
Transmission: six-speed guide, rear-wheel power
Energy (hp): 431@6,500rpm
Torque (lb feet): 390@5,000rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
12 months registered: 2006
Recorded mileage: 30,000
Worth new: £61,995
Yours for: £64,995