Brabham announces its return to business, driven by the son of its legendary founder

David Brabham, a racing driver who won the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans and the son of the legendary Jack Brabham, has finally taken a step long awaited by many car enthusiasts, and has just announced the start of Brabham Automotive, the new company that aims to revive the important legacy that the legendary British engineer left to world motorsport.

Brabham Automotive will be led by David Brabham himself, son of the three-time Formula 1 world champion, who, just two years ago, registered the name with the United Kingdom’s Intellectual Property Office.

For now, it is unknown what the first steps of Brabham Automotive will be, whether the new company that revives the family name will lead to the creation of a new passenger car brand, a racing team, or both. According to the British magazine Autocar, “no details have been revealed as to whether a car model is already in development,” although David Brabham has suggested that “the launch of the car company could lead in the future to a motorsport programme.” For the British publication, Brabham could follow the same strategy that McLaren Automotive once laid out for its entry into the luxury sports car market.

According to the statement issued by the new Brabham Automotive, “today’s launch marks the start of a new chapter in the history of a family synonymous with success.” To this end, the son of the legendary Jack Brabham, “David Brabham has combined his skill, passion and enthusiasm to guide this project prior to its presentation,” drawing “on his vast experience of four decades competing at every level of international motorsport.”

The Brabham statement says little more. According to a presumed spokesperson for the new company, even before announcing its return as a brand, Brabham Automotive “has been approached to take part in various projects linked both to the world of competition and to car production,” although nothing has yet been announced in this regard. The new Brabham statement concludes by saying that it “will reveal more about the new project and its intentions shortly.”

Brabham was born from the union of two motorsport geniuses, Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac, two engineers who joined forces when both were building vehicles in Australia, their home country. In 1951 they set up their racing team, Motor Racing Developments, which was quickly known as Brabham Racing due to the strong prominence Jack had both behind the wheel of his cars and in designing them.

After passing through different categories, the team made its debut in 1962 in Formula 1, where it contested 402 Grand Prix races, winning 35 of them and standing on the podium 120 times. Its greatest successes came in 1966 and 1967, years in which it won the World Constructors’ and World Drivers’ Championships, and in 1981 and 1983, when it secured two further World Drivers’ Championship titles.

Brabham, a surname of success and records

The brilliant Australian engineer was the first driver to win a Grand Prix (France, 1966) and a World Championship at the wheel of a car bearing his own name and developed by himself. Only Bruce McLaren, one of his early teammates, has ever achieved a similar feat in the entire history of the sport.

Brabham was the cradle of many of the legends treasured in Formula 1 history, and recounting them in this brief news item is practically impossible. Suffice it to say that, besides Jack Brabham himself, drivers of the stature and prestige of Graham Hill, Niki Lauda, Denny Hulme, Nelson Piquet, Carlos A. Reutemann and Damon Hill all passed through its cockpits.

Brabham was a true school of talent in the world of top-level motor racing. The British team saw engineers and technical directors pass through of the calibre of Gordon Murray, Ron Dennis and Charlie Whiting. Even Bernie Ecclestone built much of his career at Brabham, a team he owned for much of the 1970s and 1980s, before selling his shares and going on to run FOM.