Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the newest member to the world of track monsters

Formula 1’s history resonates with a significance rivalled by few other motorsport disciplines. Everything can be traced back to the Old Country, as it were; those halcyon days of the 50s and 60s and tales of derring-do and otherworldly heroics.

Brabham understands this. The fabled former F1 team is as storied as the best of them, which is why today’s launch of its brand-new track-only supercar, dubbed the Brabham BT62, wears a big badge of honour. In name, in livery, and in spec.

So, the spec. It’s an entirely bespoke, clean-sheet design, dreamed up by Brabham purely to serve the race-track and nothing else. No road-going frivolity here. It’s a lightweight chassis with bespoke lightweight carbon fibre body panels and carbon Kevlar wheel housings.

Brabham has opted for double wishbones front and back, together with pushrod actuated four-way adjustable Ohlins dampers, adjustable anti-roll bars and something called ‘active bump control’. The whole thing weighs in at just 972kg dry, and measures up to around the same punchy dimensions as an Audi R8.

To this, a Brabham-designed 5.4-litre naturally-aspirated V8 is fitted in the middle, developing some Very Good Numbers. Like 700bhp and 492lb ft of torque. This engine is in turn matched up to a ‘motorsport exhaust system’ and a six-speed motorsport sequential gearbox promising “full power upshifts” and auto-blips on downshift. It’s rear-drive, naturally.

It’s also a bit… mad. Because it is specifically built for the track, Brabham’s engineers have gone a little wild with the aero. It’s all carbon fibre, and there are splitters, aeroblades, dive planes, barge boards and diffusers aplenty. And a wing. Overall, Brabham reckons this thing is capable of generating more than 1,200kg of downforce. We might gently recommend its drivers begin their ab exercises about now.

There’s just so much motorsport expertise thrown at the BT62. The brakes – Brembo six piston numbers front and back – get carbon fibre cooling ducts and motorsport-spec ABS and traction control. They’re housed behind centre-lock 18in racing wheels and bespoke Michelin competition tyres.

It’s business-like inside, too: a removable carbon fibre steering wheel, FIA-spec carbon fibre seat shells with a six-point harness, an adjustable pedal box, and a carbon dashboard with a 12in digital instrument cluster. There’s Alcantara. There are leather door pulls. And a fire extinguisher.

The price? A solid £1m plus local taxes, so £1.2m in the UK. Brabham is only building 70, in honour of its 70-year heritage in Formula 1. So we come to the livery. The first 35 cars will ‘celebrate’ Brabham’s 35 GP wins; indeed, the first one unveiled wears the green and gold colours of the BT19, which won the 1966 French GP. 1966 was also the year Sir Jack Brabham won the drivers’ world championship in a car of his own making. Like we say, history.

“I set out twelve years ago to re-establish the iconic Brabham name, determined to see it return to global competition,” explains David Brabham, boss of Brabham Automotive. “My father had an incredible determination to succeed and, like him, I’ve worked tirelessly through this time, drawing on my experience as a racing driver, leader and mentor, never once losing sight of that goal.

“It’s been challenging at times, but what we have achieved is simply staggering. Today’s unveiling makes me feel incredibly proud as the Brabham legacy enters a new era.”

This new machine is built “for those who want to challenge themselves and their limitations, to experience driving in its purest form”, and owners will join Brabham’s development programme accordingly. And it’s merely part one of a very distinct trajectory. Brabham Automotive ultimately wants to return to racing, to compete at the Le Mans 24-hour race…

The Brabham BT62 is a $1.3 million 700 horsepower V8-propelled iteration of Le Mans legend David Brabham’s vision of the ultimate track car. Hell, it’s so extreme you have to be taught to drive it properly. Only 70 will be built, making it as rare as it is savage. All of that aside, the question that some have been asking is: Can you make it road legal?

Well, after putting the pressure on a Brabham insider, they admitted: Brabham can. And it will if you ask and pay (presumably) a fair wedge.

On Sunday at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the folks at Brabham apparently revealed to clients that there is a way to make its legit race cars road legal and able to jaunt off to the shops for a pint of milk in one of these monster machines should they so choose.

Here’s how it’ll go down: tell Brabham you want to daily your race car. After that your shiny BT62 will be put through an IVA (Independent Vehicle Assessment) and be approved to wear a set of UK license plates.

Once it’s legal it’ll be shipped back to a place/country/private island of your choosing and you’re free to drop your kid off at preschool in your racing car for a year on your UK plates.

Now, just shy of a year after it’s been registered it’ll need to go back to the UK for a service and so on, and the 12-month timer is reset before local laws kick in and you need to get it sorted in… wherever it is you want to keep it.

The road conversion back and forth to the UK deal lasts, initially, for two years. If clients wish to keep their plates longer, Brabham will likely be able to sort it for them.

What about where you live, specifically, since everyone knows how goofy the laws can be? Brabham will, apparently, have a consultation with clients to see how feasible it’ll be to have your BT62 road legalized for the place of your choosing and how it’ll fit with local regulations.

Of course, converting your BT62 for road use will inevitably mean the track-worthiness will take a tiny hit, but who cares when you can take it through a decently wide McDonald’s drive thru? I’ll wager it’ll still be a weapon with plates anyway.

Brabham’s savage supercar will make its US debut at Monterey Car Week this month.

After making its dynamic debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last month, the brutal Brabham BT62 will finally make its US debut at Monterey Car Week in California this month. The savage supercar will be on display at the Michelin stand at Laguna Seca and will also make appearances at McCall’s Motorworks Revival and the Exotics on Cannery Row. To celebrate its North American debut, the BT62 on display at Monterey Car Week will sport a unique livery in honor of Dan Gurney, the first ever driver to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix in a Brabham racing car.

Finished in Brabham’s distinctive green and gold colors, the car will be a homage to the Brabham BT7 Gurney steered to victory at the French Grand Prix in 1964. Production is limited to 70 units, the first 35 of which will feature special liveries celebrating each of Brabham’s 35 Formula 1 Grand Prix victories which include one US Grand Prix win and four Canadian Grand Prix wins, but Brabham doesn’t seem to be having trouble finding buyers. The company has announced it has received the first customer order for a BT62 in North America, which was sold for a cool $1.3 million.

That’s an eye-popping price but remember the Brabham BT62 is a track-only supercar (Brabham will convert it for the road if you ask nicely, however) featuring an aggressive design and carbon fiber body that brings the car’s weight down to just 2,142 pounds, while its aerodynamic package enables the BT62 to produce over 2,645 pounds of downforce. Power is provided by a mid-mounted 5.4-liter V8 engine mated to a six-speed sequential transmission that produces 700 hp and 492 lb-ft of torque.

"I've enjoyed great success in the United States over the course of my racing career, as did my father, Sir Jack, and brother Geoff Brabham, who is a member of the Motorsport Hall of Fame of America," said David Brabham, managing director of Brabham Automotive. "As a country, the US holds great significance for the family, and continued importance for the Brabham racing dynasty, and we're proud to be showcasing the car to the world's most discerning motoring enthusiasts at Monterey Car Week."