$1.8m Brabham BT62 supercars being built at Edinburgh Parks from 2018 near ex Adelaide GM Holden's factory
One of the $1.8 million Brabham BT62 supercars being built at Edinburgh Parks, north of Adelaide.
Image courtesy Brabham Automotive
The Brabham BT62, one of the world's most exclusive cars, has been designed in Adelaide and being built in an Edinburgh Parks factory near the former General Motors-Holden’s site at Elizabeth, north of Adelaide, from 2018.
Seventy of the vehicles, each with a $1.8 million price tag, are being made by the Fusion group and Brabham Automotive, named after former Australian Formula One world champion Jack Brabham. The company's director is the youngest of his sons David Brabham.
The BT62 has carbon-fibre bodywork and is powered by a 5.4 litre V8 engine producing 522 kW. The cars are expected to be ready for sale later in 2018 with buyers will undergo a special driver program.
The 7.77-kilometre track at The Bend Motorsport Park in Tailem Bend is the official Australian testing place for the car.
The company has said the build would be limited to 70 cars to mark the years since Jack Brabham launched his racing career. The company chose South Australia due to its “rich automotive heritage” and Adelaide a “a centre of excellence for engineering capability and capacity”.
The cars are being built at ZF Lemforder plant in Edinburgh Parks in Adelaide's northern suburbs near the former General Motors Holden automotive plant. ZF Lemforder and its associated investment group Fusion Capital, wanted a 400-bus contract from the state government to underpin its Brabham investment.
The Australian Grand Prix was last in Adelaide in 1995, the year after Jack Brabham's son David raced his final season in Formula One with the Simtek team.
Jack Brabham becoming an instant legend for winning the Formula One championship in his own car — the only racer to have ever done so.
The BT62’s livery was designed to celebrate Sir Jack's 1966 French Grand Prix victory at Reims in his BT19, which he manufactured himself after being designed by business partner Ron Tauranac. The first 35 BT62s will celebrate each Formula One victory by the Brabham team.
Jack Brabham died in 2014, that same year David Braham won a seven-year legal battle to retrieve the Brabham name from a German organisation and looked to get back on the global stage.
David Brabham was introduced to the Fusion group in Adelaide and was impressed by their advanced manufacturing capabilities and vision for the BT62 project.
One of the track-only Brabham BT62 supercars, to be an Adelaide entry in the FIA world endurance championship, including the famous Le Mans 24-hour race, has been featured at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival and the Superloop Adelaide 500.