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EXCLUSIVE: Brabham Automotive confirms all-new Australian-built supercar for the road

Australian automotive manufacturing is set to be revived with a Ferrari-rivalling supercar wearing the iconic Brabham name.


EXCLUSIVE

Car manufacturing is set to return to Australia with one of the most iconic names in motorsport.

A top-secret road-going supercar – to rival the likes of Ferrari, McLaren, and Lamborghini – is currently being developed by local manufacturer Brabham Automotive.

“We will be releasing a new road vehicle ... [and] our intention is for that vehicle to be built in Australia," the company's CEO, Dan Marks, revealed to Drive.

“You’ll be seeing some of our new road-only variants very soon,” he added. “We want to race at Le Mans, and to do that we need a road car ... We’re currently looking at both the Hypercar and GT categories.”

Drive understands the upcoming model – slated for launch in 2021 or 2022 – will be completely different to the existing BT62 (or road-going BT62R conversion). Instead, it will be built from the ground-up.

Engine details and performance figures are being kept closely under wraps for now, however "significant" further announcements are reportedly “scheduled for later this year.”

The iconic Brabham name was resurrected in 2018 by David Brabham, son of three-time Formula One World Champion and team owner Jack Brabham.

That same year the company unveiled its BT62 mid-engine track car (shown below), with power derived from a Ford-sourced naturally-aspirated 5.4-litre V8.

While 70 examples of the race car were originally slated for production, Mr Marks declined to comment on the scale of current deliveries: “We don’t disclose the number of vehicles we sell or produce – with that said, we’re comfortable with where we stand from a sales perspective.”

The last production road car built in Australia was the Holden Commodore, with the final example rolling off its Adelaide assembly-line amid much controversy back in 2017.

William Davis

William Davis has written for Drive since July 2020, covering news and current affairs in the automotive industry. He has maintained a primary focus on industry trends, autonomous technology, electric vehicle regulations, and local environmental policy. As the newest addition to the Drive team, William was brought onboard for his attention to detail, writing skills, and strong work ethic. Despite writing for a diverse range of outlets – including the Australian Financial Review, Robb Report, and Property Observer – since completing his media degree at Macquarie University, William has always had a passion for cars.

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