Brabham marks its return to the automotive scene after an absence of 26 long years as a fully-fledged carmaker under Brabham Automotive. The first product is codenamed BT26 and will be a high-performance, track-focused sports car with true British engineering. The BT26 will break cover on 2 May, but ahead of that, expect many teasers for the new Brabham. First of the teaser video dropped by the resurrected carmaker shows the new car zipping past on the race track.
In the blink-and-miss video, the sports car is blasting past the pit straight in full tilt with a roaring V8-like engine sound in its wake. Although Brabham is being discreet about further details on the BT26, the fly-by sports car seems to have a Le Mans prototype like body style to keep it more aerodynamic and sporty. It might also go full ballistic and adopt styling akin to Lotus, another old-school British sportscar maker. One early engine note of the BT26 teased by Brabham was reminiscent of the British sports cars of 50’s and 60’s.
Brabham assures that the new sports car won’t be built for outright speed but will have an uncompromising performance, handling and driver involvement. It will marry the marque’s illustrious past with today’s technology resulting in unadulterated driver’s car. The purpose-built sports car’s name also follows the lineage of Brabham’s F1 cars from the marque’s early racing days.
For the unacquainted, the Brabham name has a long and bejewelled history in motorsport. Jack Brabham won Formula 1 championships in 1959, 1960 and 1966 and going on to build team Brabham which raced till 1992 winning two more championships. Jack Brabham is the first and the only man to win the F1 championship in a car that bore his name and was also built by himself. Now, the youngest son of Jack, David Brabham, is looking to take forward his legacy by building road cars.
