NOBLE ART

FOR A BLISSFUL, HEADY MOMENT BACK in the early noughties, it looked like we were on the cusp of a bright, brave new era of British sports cars. TVR was flying with the Tuscan and Sagaris; Morgan was reinventing itself with the Aero 8. And then there was Noble.

Noble had an entirely different take on the Great British Sports Car with its turbocharged, mid-engined recipe and pseudo Group B/C styling, but the M12 and its derivatives attracted glowing reviews in their frequent group test appearances, and with a new car in the M14/15 waiting in the wings the marque looked set to launch into the stratosphere;