The Brabham BT62 may be history but it is not the end of the story.
David Brabham, the driving force behind the creation of the record-breaking Australian supercar, promises there’s still more to come under the family’s historic name.
He is currently involved in negotiations over a number of potential projects after cutting ties with Fusion Capital, the Adelaide company responsible for developing and manufacturing the BT62.
“The name is not dead in terms of its future,” Brabham said.
“Yes, there will be another chapter.”
-
David Brabham
The end of the BT62 partnership was announced earlier this year and for the first time Brabham gave some insight into the collapse of the BT62 production plan in an exclusive interview with Car expert.
Only a handful of cars have been built by Fusion, although one set an unofficial lap record for Mount Panorama at Bathurst and one will compete in British sports car racing this year.
“In my personal opinion, I don’t think it’s the right project for them, but that’s just my opinion,” Brabham said.
“The cooperation was not really effective, we lost confidence in the project.”
The BT62 was the first to bear the Brabham name after David, youngest son of legendary Grand Prix world champion Sir Jack Brabham, won a lengthy and expensive legal battle to reclaim all rights to with the family name.
It revives a car manufacturing tradition that began in the early 1960s, when Brabham was one of the world’s most successful single-seater and sports racing car companies.
“Brabham has been around for 75 years. This is five years and one chapter,” Brabham said.
“This chapter is nothing significant compared to the previous one. . . but it relaunched the brand and brought it to market.
“We had a great car and a great project. But unfortunately, it didn’t reach the level we expected [Again, this is probably ok] and we felt it was better for our brand to exit the project rather than continue.”
The Adelaide investors still own the intellectual property rights to the BT62 but cannot use the Brabham name if they recommence production.
However, even though Brabham BT62 BT62 is now discontinued, Brabham has confirmed that he is still working on future projects.
“You know, anything can happen in the future. Since we announced the end of the relationship (BT62) and made it public, we have been approached by a number of people. . . interested in what’s next.
“So we’re just figuring out what ‘next’ is.”
Brabham resisted any questions about the details of the project but confirmed that there was interest from people in several countries.
“Europe, Australia and America,” he said.
It could also be inspired by some motorsport, but he’s being intentionally vague about any timing or details..
“Racing is part of our (Brabham) DNA.
“We have a plan, we will not talk to people who show interest in the next chapter of Brabham.”
Meanwhile, Brabham is finalizing plans to continue his racing career – including Formula 1 and victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race – with the BT62 in England.
He also drove his cars on a short visit to Australia for the Adelaide Festival of Speed and the Australian Grand Prix.
“It’s like therapy,” he said.
THAN: What’s next for Australian supercar manufacturer Brabham?
