Monday 10th November 2008

Brabham Back with Beefy Beemer

Legendary racing team to turn its attention to hot BMWs

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BT92: Watch out for speedbumps

British racing car manufacturer Brabham Racing is to make a return with three cars, including this stunning take on BMW's M3, to be revealed at the Essen Motor Show later this month in Germany.Brabham Motor Racing was founded in 1960 by Formula One champion Jack Brabham, and designer Ron Tauranac.

The two Australians were immensely successful, selling cars to teams in various forms of open wheel racing. The company collapsed halfway through the 1992 Formula 1 season for financial reasons, and have not been heard from since.

The relaunched marque will re-establish itself with three modified BMWs and will use the traditional Brabham 'BT' naming system. The BT92 (above) is based on the M3, but the bodywork seems to have been heavily modified. Brabham has also announced a BT60 (based on the M5) and a BT70 (based on the controversial X6), however no pictures have been released of these two models yet.

No further information has been given on any of the three cars, and the image above of the BT92 is clearly computer-generated, however the firm's racing pedigree suggests that these heavily-modified cars will be focussed on performance. Whether they will be road legal or track-only cars is also unclear, though a racing-only X6 seems an unlikely prospect.

1966 Brabham BT11A

Brabham is also known for technical innovation, pushing the envelope in Formula one with new ideas such as wind tunnel testing, carbon brakes, full-length rear wings and hydropneumatic suspension. We hope that the same level of forward-thinking and innovation will make these beefy Beemers something really special.

[JR]

"The two Australians were immensely successful, selling cars to teams in various forms of open wheel racing."
Some great Can Am cars too.

[gj88]

That bmw looks stunning.

[wl606]

"Brabham is also known for technical innovation, "

That should read "Brabham WAS also known for technical innovation". Gordon Murray left a long time ago.

[kevin ritson]

How amusing, Cooper and Brabham reunited under the BMW umbrella

[don logan]

The new M3 is a bit weak aesthetically and needs something (the 4 door seems better looking strangely) not sure this is the answer tho, it`s a bit fast & furious!

[hill79]

who designed that, the chairmans grandson? hideous!

[JenkinsComp]

Wow, I am just stunned to see the Brabham name again.
Shame about the badge though, where is hissing Sid the Cobra?!

[oagent]

Brabham : great name from motor racing past there, familiar to the 40+ racing fans mainly.


BT70 (based on the controversial X6) : Drug dealing pimps will probably prefer a more familiar name, how about rebranding Brabham as J-Lo Design, or SnoopDog Racing

[Warick Hunt]

Brabham have certainly got their work cut out trying to make the latest crop of hidious beemers look good. That M3 is a bad start its vile, just goes to show you really cant polish a turd.

[dean_ratpac]

i quite like it

[dpbird90]

Powerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

[MrTappets]

Seems a strange place to start up again - redesigning beemers is a hotly contested stage

[coxyboy83]

Warick Hunt said:

Brabham have certainly got their work cut out trying to make the latest crop of hidious beemers look good. That M3 is a bad start its vile, just goes to show you really cant polish a turd.

Hideous?

[fastgerman.com]

Looks fantastic!

I'm afraid those that think otherwise are infact wrong.

[rikky]

quite like that

[SleeperCell]

The last time they had a crack at a road car the result was a little underwhelming

[c_seven]

I also quite like it, not normally into modified cars but somehow the fact it is a Brabham makes it seem acceptable, and if they make the performance as dramatic as the looks they should have no problem selling them.

[loomx]

Warick Hunt said:

Brabham have certainly got their work cut out trying to make the latest crop of hidious beemers look good. That M3 is a bad start its vile, just goes to show you really cant polish a turd.

What the hell are you on about, the current M3 and even 3 series coupe is one of the best looking cars on the market, by far!

[rockystarr]

Nice.

[Trackrod]

They may have the Brabham name but there's just no connection with the former F1 Team, principles and designers. Both Ron T and Black Jack are at least in their late 70's, and there's been no active Brabham company for at least a decade if not two. This is just another cynical case of badge engineering and trying to cash in one a once great F1 team.
Someone also mentioned in an earlier thread about Brabham Can-Am cars, but to the best of my knowledge, they were never involved in Can-Am, as Lola and McLaren had that series nicely sewn up between them till Porsche came along and raised the bar (and costs) to unafordable levels.