Tuesday 13th February 2018

New David Brown GT coming to Geneva

UPDATED: "High performance Grand Tourer" to be built alongside Speedback and Mini

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UPDATE 13/02/2018
Following the fanfair drummed up around DBA's "most performance focussed model ever" - and our secret hope that the hashtag 'preparefortakeoff' alluded to the imminent arrival of a Jensen Interceptor reboot - further details of the upcoming car have been revealed.

Somewhat anticlimactically, it's not an entirely new design, but rather a beefed up version of the existing Speedback GT, dubbed the Speedback Silverstone Edition. Only 10 examples of the car, which will be unveiled on March 6th in Geneva, are set to be produced, with each featuring over 600hp and "high-octane, aggressive styling" inspired by 1950s and '60s GT cars.

Speaking about the project, founder and CEO David Brown said, "We always had the ambition to deliver an even higher performance derivative of Speedback, so this is the realisation of a core objective for us at David Brown Automotive. Speedback Silverstone Edition is the perfect platform for us to hone classically-inspired performance, as we give a nod to our brand's Silverstone roots, whilst looking ahead to a future of British hand-craftsmanship at our bespoke coachbuilding facility."

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ORIGINAL STORY 06/02/18
Love it or loathe it, a healthy discussion is always guaranteed by David Brown Automotive news. Perhaps it's because opinions are so polarised that the debate is so comprehensive. Whether it's the DB5-aping Speedback GT or 'Remastered' Mini, nothing created by DBA so far has slipped off the radar; only one PistonHeads story has attracted less than 100 comments, and that was the drive of the Mini. With 95...

For 2018 David Brown Automotive is to produce its, "most performance focused model ever"; it will make its debut at the Geneva motor show, to sit alongside Mini and Speedback GT production at its Silverstone HQ. Indeed the announcement of this new model marks one year since the Silverstone relocation.

Details are scarce at present, the official hashtag - #PrepareForTakeOff - and the press conference time - March 6th, 10:45 GMT - about as tangible as it gets for now. David Brown himself has suggested that this is the car he's been looking forward to since the Speedback's launch nearly four years ago, and is promising "unprecedented" levels of performance for a car that aims to bring new customers to the brand.

What that will actually be, nobody quite knows - or is allowed to know - yet. We're told to expect "a more aggressive design language", though it's obviously hard to formulate much of an idea given how strongly previous DBA products have riffed on existing cars. What will it be inspired by this time? What will it be based on? What will it be called? Hopefully some information to fill in the blanks will follow soon...

 

[Shambler]

Mercedes CLR GT1 with jaguar x type chassis?

[FWDRacer]

In before the lock

More pastiche laden detritus, with slipshod engineering and defunct underpinnings. I can hardly wait <Rubshands>.

[Dinoboy]

70's Lagonda body over Rapide S chassis?

[unsprung]

Wouldn't it be fun if Mr. Brown could disown his sort of Faberge egg past to produce instead a performance car priced below £40,000?

[can't remember]

What that will actually be, nobody quite knows - or is allowed to know - yet. We're told to expect "a more aggressive design language"

It's going to be a Chieftain tank (coincidentally the rhyming slang most commonly used to describe his other endeavors) on the chassis of a Ford Cortina.

[NickGibbs]

Maybe Aston has sold him some outgoing Vantages...

[swisstoni]

Gawd, those wheels.

[romac]

Gotta be an SUV - that's where all the dough is. Re-mastering the Series 1 Landie, anyone?

[Driller]

I thought that this was going to be an article about the death of the British motor industry.

[Hitch]

Time has been pretty kind to those GTs. Looks far less jarring now than at the time, though the price is still bemusing. Did they sell any?

[nickphuket]

The real and original David Brown went to my old school. Not sure if the new chappie has any link to the original bloke . Either way it does seem a little bit of a pastiche and not something like the continuation d types by Jaguar or the DB4's by AM. I suppose a little more in the Mini or Fiat 500 vein.

[Zod]

NickGibbs said:

Maybe Aston has sold him some outgoing Vantages...

That's a bit modern for him. Probably more likely to be built on a Rover 800 chassis with headlights from a Discovery 4, the engine from an 827 Vitesse, kerb weight of 2.5 tonnes and a price tag of £600K.

[arkenphel]

I saw the DB GT at Geneva last year. looked quite cool in the flesh actually, and the finish seemed decent. It's not my thing, but if he has identified a market where he can push his wares, then the automotive landscape is all the better for it. It's very easy to sneer and make light of someone's efforts from afar, but I suppose this is Keyboard Warrior central.

Props to the dude for not going out of business (as yet) unlike lots of other British car companies/ modifiers etc.

[Gurov]

I will look forward to viewing this new model. I loved the mini they do it is something very special.

[R400TVR]

I don't understand the hatred i've read above. Surely any British designed, built, and owned car maker should be applauded, not vilified. Defunct chassis? The XK may have been killed off, but the chassis was in no way outdated, same for the engine which is still used now. The styling may draw from the past, but surely there's a place for a car with classic style and build that's not covered in vents, slats, spoilers, silly 'modes' etc. I've seen one, talked to the owner, and say in it. Beautiful. The wheels are questionable, but the Dickie seat is brilliant!

[RumbleOfThunder]

What a bunch of cynical nobs. Why not wait and see what the unveil actually is. My money will be on it looking fabulous.

[ZX10R NIN]

The workmanship that goes into these is amazing, you may not like the design but you can only applaud that they're (& other coachbuilders) keeping metalwork skills I like the looks but really want to see the reworked Interceptor.

[cookie1600]

Good god, you wouldn't believe that Pistonheads is a car enthusiast website when you read the article that states "Jenson Interceptor"

What the hell is Jenson apart from the guy who used to race in F1?

Please, we're used to having to do your proof reading, but can you at least have a bit of a shot at getting Jensen (in relation to Jensen Motors) correct? You only have to Google it.

/rant

[myhandle]

arkenphel said:

I saw the DB GT at Geneva last year. looked quite cool in the flesh actually, and the finish seemed decent. It's not my thing, but if he has identified a market where he can push his wares, then the automotive landscape is all the better for it. It's very easy to sneer and make light of someone's efforts from afar, but I suppose this is Keyboard Warrior central.

Props to the dude for not going out of business (as yet) unlike lots of other British car companies/ modifiers etc.

I also saw it at Geneva, and I didn't think it looked cool, but I agree with everything else you are saying. It seemed well finished, a friend of mine met David Brown himself and said he was really nice, and I think it's great that there are unusual cars out there, still in production, which will become the obscure classics of the future. Just like Zenvo and the other low volume manufacturers, surely we should be wishing them well and be glad that the days of the apparent inevitability of every car on the road being a 320d, Golf TDI or Audi A4 TDI are well and truly over. People who buy cars like the Speedback or the Zenvo or any of the super low volume cars already have a DB11, a 488, a 911 Turbo S, a Continental GT, or probably all of them, and some classics too. Rare cars with very low production volumes such as the Speedback cars are purchased simply because they are something different, and in some cases, unique. Lewis Hamilton has/ had a LaFerrari, but there are the best part of a thousand of those including the Aperta, and only one Zonda LH.

[FWDRacer]

Gurov said:

I loved the mini they do it is something very special.

"Special". Not an adjective any self respecting car or classic Mini fan would use to describe it.