You know the kind of ultimate spy car, totally vintage looking on the outside but completely modded up to the grills in the latest automotive engineering tech? Well, this David Brown Automotive Speedback GT Silverstone Edition has made that cinematic trope a reality. A true performance Grand Tourer, track-tuned to inspire pure driving emotion, the Speedback GT Silverstone Edition with the price tag of a high performance supercar, takes the 1960s retro-aesthetic hides 601 British Horsepower under its classic, gentlemanly exterior. If this isn’t the definition of the ultimate spy car, I don’t know what is.
Ultimate Spy Car: David Brown Automotive Speedback GT Silverstone Edition
For those of you unfamiliar, David Brown Automotive, is a British bespoke carmaker, known to a niche group of automobile fanatics for creating small batches of exquisitely crafted cars. David Brown’s Speedback GT Silverstone Edition is based on the brand’s gorgeous grand tourer, the Speedback GT. This new Silverstone Edition is a follow up to David Brown Automotive’s previous Speedback GT project which retro-fitted an old Jaguar XKR with all the mods and cons, reminiscent of an old Aston Martin DB5 and selling it for over £600,000.
Taking its name from the Silverstone Circuit, a former Royal Air Force bomber station turned race-track and now home to David Brown’s headquarters and factory, the newly unveiled Silverstone Edition gets a 5.0-liter, supercharged V-8 capable of 601 horsepower, 56 foot-pounds of torque and a top speed of about 250 kmh; completing its century sprint in 4.2 seconds. Essentially, the new Speedback Silverstone Edition takes David Brown Automotive’s ‘standard’ Speedback GT and, to use an American concept, upsizes everything: power, torque, aggression and tons of gorgeous classic styling with chrome detailing.
Naturally, as befitting the ultimate spy car, a high-tech, rapid six-speed automatic transmission is standard with no manual option. For those doubtful of the David Brown Automotive Speedback GT Silverstone Edition in full automatic, the added “Sport mode” will give the car immediate throttle response and performance – not exactly “Tesla full throttle on pedal press” but close. Topping out at 250 kmh, it’s not exactly supercar territory (320 kmh and up) but it’s not slouch either.
The suspension of the new Silverstone Edition has been track-tuned and offers an advanced “Dynamic” stability-control system, rear differential and performance brake – ensuring some semblance of safety as the onboard computer accounts for your control of the car at breakneck speeds and continuously (and autonomously) manages performance characteristics to keep you from sending yourself invariably into the ditches since civilians typically lack the mastery of racecar drivers.
In terms of aesthetics and design, the Speedback GT Silverstone carries a lightweight aluminum body topped with twin auxiliary lamps in the mesh grille, a reminder of old school endurance GT racecars. Other heritage ;nods’ includes 20-inch “Afterburner” forged alloy wheels inspired by jet turbines and vintage aviation inspired quad exhaust tips from RAF bombers from days of yore.
The lush shade of David Brown Automotive Speedback GT Silverstone black is applied over an eight-week process, giving this bespoke sports car an exclusive “Fly By Night” finish with a “Black Night” fading racing stripe running down the center of the vehicle. All the special badging, and all of the exterior brightware is finished in brushed chrome, simultaneously retro-inspired by aviation and automotive genres.
It’s called the Silverstone Edition for a reason, the Grand Tourer celebrates David Brown Automotive’s new racetrack/RAF bomber base home. Just ten Speedback GT Silvertones will be built and it is expected to sell for north of $850,000.
For more information, visit David Brown Automotive
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