Car making comes home to Coventry as first David Brown Speedback GT delivered

[dutchman]

Car making has come back to Coventry in style as the city prepares to reclaim its automotive heritage with one of the most sought-after cars on the planet.



The David Brown Speedback GT is being created in Binley by traditional craftsmen employing many of the coachbuilding skills Coventry was once famous for as the beating heart of Britain’s automotive industry.

Just 100 Speedback GTs will be built and at almost half-a-million pounds (plus taxes) those who ultimately get to own them will be people with deep pockets.

The project has been under way for a number of years but finally came to fruition this week with the first customer delivery to a buyer in mainland Europe.

As well as being created at David Brown Automotive’s Binley headquarters, several Coventry companies are involved in the supply chain - including Jaguar Land Rover who are supplying a Jaguar XK-R chassis as the base of the car and a supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine delivering 510bhp.

Other Coventry companies with a major hand in its creation include Envisage Group (which builds the car), trimmers ATD and wood veneer producer Lawrence Automotive.

The project fulfils a long-held dream for company founder David Brown.

Any Aston Martin connections are purely coincidental even if the Gaydon-based car maker was once owned by industrialist David Brown and the ‘DB’ initials live on in its model naming conventions.

However, any intention to resemble classic grand tourers of the past - Aston Martins included - is very much intentional and the Speedback GT is described as a classic-inspired gentleman’s grand tourer.

Speaking to the Telegraph Mr Brown said: “I think if you look at the cars from the sixties they all had very simple lines, there was nothing complicated or aggressive.

“The supercars of today are quite aggressive in terms of styling.

“This is quite a friendly looking car, you get a fantastic reaction from other road users and I think it is that simplistic approach to styling - big curvy lines like Sophia Loren.

“I think everybody loves the car whether they can afford it or not. It is one of those things you would struggle to dislike from a styling point of view.”

A classic car enthusiast, Mr Brown said the idea stemmed from having a vehicle that could look like a motoring icon from the past but without the engineering drawbacks.

He said: “The main thing for me was loving classic cars but struggling with the reliability of them.

“A classic car I once had eventually broke down and I was delighted when it did as it was such a pig to drive.

“I had a Peugeot instead which was comfortable and I thought wouldn’t it be nice to combine these things - to take the style, body and simplicity of sixties cars - which are very simple in terms of style - and marry that to the chassis and powertrain of a modern vehicle.”

Mr Brown said the Midlands, and Coventry in particular, was a natural choice to make the Speedback - in part because they had to ask local manufacturers and supply chain companies to help make the dream a reality.

“We couldn’t have done it without the help of all of our suppliers the vast majority of whom are from this area,” he said. “Most are from the region and that is why we are here.

“Despite record production by the major manufacturers they have still been able to help us with special requests and specialist materials.

“Without them we wouldn’t have succeeded.”

Vehicle manufacturing is nothing new to Mr Brown, he and his father set-up a company making construction vehicles and he went on to build rally cars, though he admits the Speedback GT has been delivered in an incredibly short timeframe.

He said: “To go from something that was as much of a dream as anything else three years ago to where we are today is just fantastic. It is a remarkable achievement for a tiny little company.

“It’s also a great moment for the company making the first delivery - a really important stage for us.”

Fine tuning over the duration of the project has seen 237 engineering and design changes made to the Speedback and both traditional techniques - some of which are more than a century old - have been combined with the latest processes. Its design, masterminded by former Land Rover chief designer Alan Mobberley, has encompassed everything from clay modelling to digital design.

Although not intended as a high-performance supercar there has been no shortage of customer enquiries.

“We have had interest from all over the world,” said Mr Brown.

“Its performance is superb but it’s not a track day car to slide sideways around a track but a genuine grand tourer which is what we set out to create.

“It has been a challenge to produce something as complex and sophisticated as this car but we are a very small but extraordinarily dedicated and enthusiastic team who have made it happen.

“One of the things about driving a car like this reaction from other people. You end up with a grin on your face because of the grin on theirs.”

[dutchman]

Company behind £500,000 supercar to leave Coventry



The company behind an exclusive supercar being built in Coventry are set to leave the city.

David Brown Automotive has outgrown its current home in Binley and is set to open up a new headquarters at Silverstone race track.

The firm are the creators of the half-a-million pound Speedback GT which is currently on display at the world famous Geneva International Motor Show.

Bosses say they need more space as the business continues to expand which will see more models produced by David Brown.

Michelle Gay, brand and business manager, said: “We are currently over three sites in Coventry, which is a great place for the motor industry as there are a number of large companies here and many of our suppliers.

“We will be sad to leave, but we need a bigger site to bring everything under one roof and have a place to bring customers to the location.

“That space just wasn’t available in Coventry and Silverstone will be a fantastic location.”

They may regret this move when the credit bubble finally bursts and demand suddenly shrinks?

[rebbonk]

Didn't last long did it. 12 months between the two posts.

As for there not being sufficient land in Coventry, rubbish!

There is more to this story than we are being told.