Brabham: Going fast, and steady…

News Feature

Sir Jack Brabham died before he got to celebrate the car that is bringing the Brabham brand back from the dead.

But his son, David, knows Black Jack would have been happy to see the BT62 supercar which has just been previewed as a limited-edition track day special with a starting pricetag around $1.8 million.

“He knew that I wanted to bring the Brabham name back onto the global stage, which he was supportive of. But, sadly, this project started after he passed away,” says the youngest of Sir Jack’s three sons.

All followed their father into racing and, like his oldest brother Geoff and Sir Jack himself, David is a Le Mans winner. He also made it to Formula One, but only in the dying days of the Brabham team and then with the Simtek team of tiddlers.

Today David Brabham is talking from his home outside London, as he heads out for a long-weekend ramble with the family.

But the Brabham Automotive story has kept him flat-out busy for more than five years, starting with the legal fight to return the Brabham name and trademark to the family, then the search for cashed-up backers, and finally the creation of the BT62.

It’s a good looker in the classic green-and-gold livery that Jack raced in the 1960s and strikes the right style – shapely and smoothly aggressive and nothing like the brutalist McLaren Senna.

But how much is business and how much is personal?

“Both to be honest. The goal was to bring Brabham back for an emotional reason, but for it to survive it needed a strong business supporting it,” David says.

“The Brabham BT62 is Brabham Automotive’s first project and it will be the vehicle that drives the business forward. We are already working on the next cars and a racing program will be a part of our strategy with Le Mans in our sights.”

If David learned one thing from his father it’s when to talk and when to keep quiet. He has been dropping sly hints about the BT62 project for well over a year but, even now, won’t go any further down the road.

It’s obvious that a roadgoing supercar will follow the track car, and that sponsors will have to pay for the Le Mans effort and any sports car racing, and that Formula One is not even a dream.

But David is saying nothing. As usual. He refuses to be drawn on the future, although he is more open about the path to the present.

Brabham has been a relatively regular visitor to Australia over the past year, even though he has been based in the UK for more than 20 years and raised his family there with his British wife.

He raced a Toyota 86 guest car at Bathurst last October and was in Melbourne during Australian Grand Prix week in March for public appearances with his older brother Geoff.

But, away from the spotlight, there was other work as the BT62 prototype took shape.

“Yes, I have driven the car. I have been heavily involved in the testing program along with other drivers.

“Having driven a host of different racing cars over my career, the BT62 is shaped around what I want from a car: solid rear but rotates into the corners well.

“Like any car it has to give you confidence, which this car does. I will continue to be involved in the testing and development programs,” he explained.

David is the custodian of the Brabham name and is focussed on ensuring the BT62 (and the planned road car program that will follow the 70 track cars) is done right and makes money. There is history and DNA to protect, as well.

“Brabham is inspirational, pioneering thinking, and incredible engineering. Cars that are fast, easy to maintain.

“And a car that gives drivers confidence to push themselves to find a new limit,” he says of the heart of the car.

The first BT62 was built in Australia and there will be a factory in the north of Adelaide. But why do it here when David lives in the UK and there is so much motorsport technology to tap in Britain?

“Our company has bases in the UK and Australia and we use expertise in both countries. There are advanced manufacturing capabilities in Adelaide and the Brabham BT62 shows what can be achieved,” he stated.

“We use a number of specialist suppliers in motorsport in Australia and the UK.”

There is more to that side of the story, including the inevitable government funding and who is doing the behind-the-scenes stuff in Australia, but not yet. Instead, David is painting the picture with broad brush strokes.

“I have dedicated my life to this project for the last two years and will continue to do so.

“Success will be Brabham supercars on the road, winning Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship.”

“That should be enough at this stage,” he ends.