Brabham has announced just how much it’ll cost to make their BT62 supercar road legal, and it ain’t cheap.
We got our first good look at the BT62 last summer when Brabham brought it to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The track-only supercar featured a 5.4-L twin-turbo V8 engine producing 700 hp and 492 lb-ft of torque. Notably, it also possessed a curb weight of just 2,143 lbs, which is lighter than almost any other supercar you’d care to mention.
Lighter than a LaFerrari? Check. Lighter than a Senna GTR? Double check.
However, Brabham had a problem. The car cost $1.3 million each, and most of the 1%ers who wanted to buy it didn’t want to have to also buy a trailer to drive it to the track and back. They wanted to be able to drive it there themselves. After all, what’s the point of buying a million dollar toy if you can’t show it off?
So Brabham announced they’d find a way to make the car road legal. Shortly after Goodwood, Brabham announced plans to legalize the BT62 by putting it through the UK’s IVA (Independent Vehicle Assessment) in order to get British license plates. Now Brabham has clarified and solidified those plans and also given the conversion a price tag.
RELATED: THE TRACK-ONLY BRABHAM BT62 IS COMING TO AMERICA
The BT62 will still undergo the IVA testing, but it will also be structurally modified to meet the minimum legal requirements. "This includes raising the ride height with a front and rear axle lift kit, increasing the steering lock range, adding air conditioning, fitting door locks and immobilizers, and including additional high-quality upholstery in the interior," according to Brabham’s press release.
And the price of these minor tweaks? An extra $200,000 on top of the price of the car. That turns the BT62 into a $1.5 million road-legal toy.
Conversions and deliveries are expected to begin this summer. Brabham didn’t list every country where the conversions would work, but we’d expect it to be at least legal in the US and the UK.
(Source: Jalopnik)