Brabham Automotive is currently Australia’s only automaker and they’re not making too many autos, yet. But, they’re gearing up to. The company marked its two-year anniversary this week by looking forward at its near-ready BT62R model.
Brabham has recently completed its brand new workspace, which houses its engineering, design, manufacturing, and assembly teams. The 2,500-square-meter facility is part of a larger plant space that also houses Precision Buses and Fusion Composites in an industrial area in Edinburgh, a suburb of Adelaide.
The location of Fusion Composites is key to Barbham’s success. They are the supplier of Barbham’s carbon fiber components as well as having a foot in the aerospace, mass-transit, and goods manufacturing fields, among others.
The Brabham Automotive BT62R will be able to fully function as a daily driver, if that is what its owner wants it to do.Photo courtesy of Brabham Automotive
Precision Buses, Fusion Composites, and Brabham Automotive all share common ownership.
“What we have created here is a production facility that suits our current requirements as a niche manufacturer but is also easily scalable as our business grows,” said Dan Marks, CEO of Brabham Automotive, and Director and partner in Fusion Capital. “There is plenty of space for us to scale-up both Brabham Automotive and Fusion Composites as activity in both businesses increases.
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In the Barbham facility are numerous bays that are specialized depending on the task at hand. There’s a finishing bay for final inspection, a dedicated carbon composite workshop, engineering offices with 3D printing facilities, meeting rooms, and a customer engagement area. This is the way may specialty automakers are set up.
Brabham is also growing its team of experts. The staff now consists of members with experience at a variety of auto manufacturers including McLaren, Aston Martin, Ferrari, General Motors, Jaguar, Koenigsegg, Lotus, Mercedes AMG, Tesla, Volvo, and V8 Supercars as well as the Virgin Formula E racing team.
Brabham Automotive hopes to enter its BT62 at the 24 Horus of Le Mans in 2022 or 2023.
Photo courtesy of Brabham Automotive
The Ultimate Track spec of the BT62 launched in 2018. It features a 5.4-liter naturally aspirated V8 paired with a six-speed racing transmission. It achieves 700 horsepower and has 1600 kg of downforce. The car’s body weighs just 972 kg (dry) and has a higher power-to-weight ratio than similar models from McLaren, Ferrari, and Porsche.
Brabham calls it, “the most dynamic car in the world.”
From there, Brabham created the BT62 Competition, a stripped back version of the racing car, aimed at enthusiast drivers as well as professionals. It is this model that leads the Brabham Motorsport program, which is aiming to compete at Le Mans in 2022 or 2023, dependent on the finalization of new hypercar regulations.
The BT62R is the next stop on the journey. It will be fully road-compliant when it launches in June as the third variant from the BT62 chassis. It will feature the same V8 as the other two models but have components that make it more palatable as a daily driver including a front and rear axle lift kit, different aerodynamics, and increased levels of luxury and comfort (likely softer seats and a more polished cabin appearance).
Pricing has not yet been announced for the BT62R.
