The initial press release was mildly surprising. A David Brown launching as a car manufacturer? Hadn’t that already been done? Few further details until the London launch last week, when many things became apartment and an awful lot clearer. This is an interesting project.
The British sportscar industry is littered with the corpses of abandoned dreams and failed niche car manufacturers. Some have staggered along for many years before being absorbed into foreign multi-nationals eager to acquire the brand name. So a British businessman wanting to start a niche sports car company in this day and age? The best of British Luck.
That’s not sarcasm, I mean it. For two reasons. Firstly, the David Brown behind the project is no beginner in business. A Yorkshire based man with a portfolio of successful business projects behind him, across a wide variety of sectors, the common theme making them thrive is attention to detail and taste. Whether it’s quality houses, artisan beer brewing or stone carving or even a boutique fashion outlet, Mr Brown has a touch in business that makes things happen. We met very briefly almost a decade ago, when my impression was of a man who would probably have been a fashion designer or an architect had he not been born into the thriving family engineering business.
Second, it’s a beautiful car that strikes just the right note. The first time I saw the full images, my immediate impression was a car for a slightly older Sean Connery, older than his Goldfinger days, but still not retired to Spain. Or Edward Fox, having miraculously escaped from The Day of The Jackal and invested that money in Switzerland. I thought it looked cool and elegant, slightly mysterious, with a great many styling cues.
Of course, the car isn’t totally scratch built. The bespoke exterior styling is based upon the Jaguar XKR, chassis and power train, optimised by Envisage engineering, owners can enhance the basic specification with any options they may wish. Think of David Brown Engineering as a coach building house for the 21st Century in the same mould as JH Mulliner, Tickford, Hooper and Barker or Vignale. Indeed David Brown Automotive was inspired by the fact that David Brown couldn’t find the car he wanted in the marketplace, so he set about creating it himself.
So who will buy it? If I had to use a single phrase, I’d say The Silver Fox. That Englishman with silver temples who looks in the mirror and sees that young Edward Fox in his reflection. Mentally still 25 years old, with a strong desire to never be part of any crowd, the same person who chooses a Bristol just because they can. Does the fact that I can mentally picture that buyer make me of that age too? While that’s mildly worrying, I see the appeal of the Sportback.
Make mine in Blue Tour De France with grey leather, please. And Navy Blue Wilton carpets. And I’ll have the XKR-S supercharged engine and dampers too, just to keep those young bucks in Porsche Boxsters in their place on the drive down to Classic LeMans in July.
Photography David Brown Automotive / Words Neill Watson
