The M600 is Noble's attempt to make the supercar raw again, which the maker claims will "do nothing on the driver's behalf." It's got 650bhp going to the rear wheels, by the way, so if you're thinking about buying one it might be prudent to check the small print of your life insurance policy.

But don't misconstrue that as us saying the Noble will be in any way dangerous - it will be as communicative a supercar as there ever was, if the maker's claims that it's gunning for an experience akin to the Ferrari F40 and McLaren F1 turn out to be true. Modern supercars are all soft, see. This one most definitely isn't.

It's going to cost around £200,000 when it gets to Noble dealers by around November, though neither the price nor the on-sale date is set yet, despite the car supposedly being finished. It'll be made in a new factory in Leicestershire.

So what's happening under that remarkable carbon fibre skin? Well, the M600 weighs in at just 1,275kg and is powered by a twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V8 sourced from, of all makers, Volvo. Maximum power arrives at 5,800rpm and it can muster 604lb.ft of twist at 2,000rpm lower. However, there's a switch that allows drivers to turn down the taps so the engine 'only' generates either 450bhp or 550bhp. This is accomplished by instantly remapping the engine management software. At its maximum setting, the M600 will hit 62mph in an eye-popping three seconds and run out of steam at about 225mph.

It does have traction control, though it can be switched off (using a switch from a Tornado fighter plane as it happens, though don't tell anyone that otherwise they'll stop returning your calls) and there's no ESP or anti-lock brakes. If there is any power steering assistance it will be very moderate indeed, and the dampers have only one setting - probably set at a rate engineers like to call 'rock hard'. Basically, we're getting the impression this is a Lotus Elise turned up to 12.

It makes its debut at the Goodwood Revival on September 19th, so there's another reason to go if you needed one.

Mark Nichol - 19 Aug 2009