The Noblest of all?

Dubbed the M15, the latest model addition will cost the equivalent of about $182K in its home market, which means it'll be in the same rarefied price bracket as Porsche's 911. For that money, Noble claims you'll slide behind the wheel of car that's a legitimate rival for the Ferrari F430 and Lamborghini Gallardo.

It's a bold claim, but not entirely without substance. Factory figures suggest the M15 will sprint from standstill to 100km/h in 3.5sec, while 160km/h reportedly flashes past in under 8.0sec. Top speed, for what it's worth, is quoted at 298km/h.

How's this possible? It's largely the result of a 340kW/617Nm version of the twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 that's been used so effectively in past Nobles. However, the difference with the M15 is in that it's mounted longitudinally, rather than the transverse arrangement that was formerly the company's norm.

There's also a new six-speed manual gearbox, along with dry-sump lubrication to ensure the engine's internals aren't starved of oil under heavy braking and cornering loads.

Torsional stiffness is claimed to be up by 57 per cent -- thanks to a new spaceframe chassis -- so the M15's dynamic qualities should eclipse the already accomplished M400 and M12.

Believe it or not, there's even 300 litres of boot space and goodies such as satnav. But you won't find on-board nannies like traction control, as the company argues that the "benign chassis" makes this unnecessary.

Company founder Lee Noble says infusing a degree of liveability was essential in order to enable the M15 to compete with the likes of Porsche.

"The M12 is a great car, but it's very focused and I wanted to produce a supercar people could use every day," said Noble. "It was time for Noble to take a big step up in terms of refinement, practicality and stsyle."

Now for the bad news... don't expect to see any examples here as Motor Group Australia, which was the local distributor for the marque, pulled down the shutters last year -- a result of MG Rover (whose products accounted for the lion's share of its sales volume) biting the dust.

Be that as it may, there's always the possibility of a handful of grey imports being brought in by well-heeled enthusiasts.