The David Brown Speedback GT, a nigh-on £600,000 coachbuilt coupé, blends modern underpinnings with classic looks When it comes to fine cars, the name of David Brown is currently creating clarity and confusion in equal measure.David Brown (1904-1993) was the legendary tractor manufacturer and post-war rescuer of Aston Martin, who bought the company in 1947, helped create some its best-remembered cars, donated his initials to them, then sold up in the '70s when Aston struck financial trouble.In recent months, however, another car-making David Brown has sprung to notice. Also an entrepreneurial Yorkshireman, this new DB's business is also based on the launch a luxurious new GT car – which looks a lot like a classic Aston Martin.But this time there's no formal connection to the century-old Gaydon-based sports car maker. This Brown is the man behind the super-exclusive Speedback GT, priced a shade under £600,000. It uses the contemporary underpinnings from one of Jaguar's finest cars but its shape and details recall the most iconic features of the Aston Martin DB5, all realised in a modern package.Despite the uncanny similarity of his background and business career to Aston Martin's venerable Sir David Brown (the later DB is a patriotic British entrepreneur; his interests run to retailing, brewing, interior design, retailing and his background is in manufacturing large, off-highway vehicles), the new Brown never set out to take advantage of any perceived Aston connection.He's outgoing, wisecracking sort of bloke but you can see the suggestion irritates him, though he acknowledges that a company called David Brown Automotive has more instant gravitas today than a Trevor Smith Automotive would do. That much he knows he owes DB Mk1.The Speedback idea sprang by degrees from fun Brown has had over the years building wild rally cars, and entering both UK events and globe trotting productions like the Paris-Peking Rally (in a '20s Rolls-Royce).Several years ago '60s-loving Brown bought an Aston DB5 ("it is the most iconic car of the time") and modernised it with more power, soundproofing and better brakes. "I love it, and still have it," he says, "but after all that it was still a '60s car. I kept wondering how I could have a modern car with the look I liked."Under the skin the David Brown Speedback GT, launched in Monaco in April, uses an Jaguar XKR chassis, engine and all its other significant mechanical components, but is carefully designed so virtually everything you see is unique.The interior is a celebration of wood, leather and metal details. The exterior does plenty of DB5 details better than the old original (check the finely sculpted front bumperettes).One very special feature is a so-called picnic seat, an ingenious mechanism that springs from the flat boot floor. It's a two-person perch to please any SUV owner, except that this is a svelte GT car.The Speedback's use of proven high-performance components recalls days, Brown explains, when those who could afford fine cars would buy a rolling chassis from the likes of Bentley or Alvis and have it fitted with a body of their own specification – perhaps with some personal design elements thrown in by their choice of coachbuilder, who at the time were dealers in exclusivity.The Speedback's styling, inside and out, is the work of the well-known ex-Land Rover designer Alan Mobberley, who came out of retirement for this because he reckoned he was old enough to understand what made Astons of the DB5 era so special. "It's a contemporary GT with the heart and soul of a classic," he says.
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