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Noble M600 Drophead in the Pipeline

Compared to the defunct M12 introduced in 2001, Noble has come a long way, especially with the M600. The latter is a handbuilt piece of British muscle that uses a 4.4-liter twin-turbo Volvo V8. Its 650 horsepower are sent to the rear wheels via an Oerlikon Graziano six-speed stick shift.
Noble M600 1 photo
Photo: Noble Automotive
With a 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) run that comes in 3 seconds flat, a standing 1/4-mile that occurs in 11 seconds and a 225 mph top speed (362 km/h), this is one helluva fast machine. And a scary one of that if you consider those variable boost Garrett turbochargers and the lack of anti-lock brakes. Moreover, its hefty £200,000+ sticker price is rather steep with all those Ferraris and Lamborghinis around. But Noble wants to up the M600's appeal by chopping its roof off. Yikes!

Managing director Peter Boutwood has sourced this bit of info to Dutch publication Telegraaf. Mr. Boutwood told that Noble Automotive is building a drop-top variant of the M600, which will bear the Drophead moniker. Boutwood also declared that if the Noble M600 Drophead prototype will make potential customers express their interest in this model, then the British manufacturer will start building the thing in very limited numbers.

While the coupe weighs a feathery 1,250 kilos (2,755 lbs), extra strengthening to the chassis and stuff will most definitely hike the curb weight of the M600 Drophead if it will enter production. Another interesting bit of info dropped by Mr. Boutwood is that Noble is currently developing a paddle-operated transmission for those markets where a "manual normally has no chance of success."

However, the big question is whether Noble has looked into those reliability issues that affected the M600 Richard Hammond brought to Italy in the first episode of Top Gear season 18. If you haven't seen that episode, let us explain then: Richard's M600 came to a standstill after the clutch failed and debris damaged the gearbox. How did the carmaker fix this fault? Sending a replacement car, of course.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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