The Noble M12 is a rare car, built in South Africa, designed in England, and imported to the US as a kit car. It is an extremely fast car, with supercar speed and handling. Yet it is a very simple car, with only a stereo and air conditioner for amenities.

The kit car can be ordered from 1g Racing for $76,400. The kit comes in 2 parts, the car itself and the powertrain. The powertrain comes with a twin-turbocharged 3.0L V6 with a Getrag 6-speed transmission. The engine is from a Ford Taurus and is mid-mounted. The transmission is from a European Ford Mondeo. Pretty simple, cheap, and effective. Plus parts should be fairly cheap and easy to find.

Recently Car and Driver had a test drive in the Noble M12. They were expecting it to be an unrefined car, but to their surprise it was quite a fine car. It was even easy to get into, and to some extent comfortable. The clutch and brakes were light.

The performance is the key feature. With so little weight to toss around (2457 lbs) the car accelerates, stops and grips like mad! 0-60 mph goes by in only 3.3 seconds. On the skidpad it pulls 1.0g.

performance:
power: 360 hp @ 6200 rpm
torque: 358 lb-ft @ 3500 rpm
curb weight: 2457 lbs
0-60 mph: 3.3 seconds
quarter mile: 11.8 seconds @ 118 mph