Brabham Automotive
The Brabham name is synonymous with the worlds of Formula One and sports car racing and now the company that bears that name, Brabham Automotive, has unveiled their first supercar, the BT62.
The BT62 with its eight-cylinder 5.4-liter engine is inspired by the family patriarch Sir Jack Brabham and his legendary Formula One racing career which saw him win World Championship three times himself and his cars win two more times with Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet.
Brabham’s 1966 F1 World Championship is still the only time a driver won the title in a car bearing his own name. Brabham also is credited with innovations such as in-race refuelling, carbon brakes, and hydropneumatic suspension.
David Brabham, Jack’s youngest son, a very successful sports car racing driver, now heads Brabham Automotive and was the one to unveil the new 700 horsepower track-only BT62.
When asked if the next car in the Anglo-Australian car-maker’s line-up would be a Le Mans 24 Hour challenger followed by a road-going hypercar based on the BT62, Brabham Automotive founder and managing director David Brabham told motoring.com.au:
“Yeah, that might be a good assumption.”
Speaking at the global launch of the Brabham BT62 in London overnight, Brabham went on to explain the huge benefits of becoming Australia’s “only automotive company”.
“A car like this demonstrates what can be built today in Australia. Instead of just talking about it, we preferred to show people what we do and what can be done.”
The BT62 will be limited to a 70 car production run to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Jack Brabham’s racing debut and will cost around $1.4 million.
When the new McLaren Senna was brought up as a comparison to Brabham Automotive’s director of technology and engineering, Paul Birch, by Autoblog, he said, “We didn’t benchmark anyone else. We had finished our car by the time the McLaren Senna came out, and we’re looking forward to their next car challenging ours.” That last part was reportedly said with a cheeky smile.
Why is he so confident the Senna can’t match the BT62? In simple terms, it’s because the 710 horsepower, 5.4-liter V8 Brabham BT62 is lighter than the Senna (2,143 vs. 2,641 pounds, dry weight), has a better power-to-weight ratio (730 hp vs. 668 hp per ton) and offers way more maximum downforce too (2,646 vs. 1,764 pounds). 0-62 mph times and top speeds aren’t listed yet, but Brabham Automotive is positive that its first commercially-available car, has met its internal brief, which Birch confirmed was, “a GT racer without restrictions, aimed at endurance sports car racing.”
The first cars are expected to be delivered later this year with a possible return to the GT class at Le Mans as early as 2020.
Brabham Automotive
Brabham Automotive
Brabham Automotive
Brabham Automotive
Brabham Automotive
Brabham Automotive
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