14 replies to this topic

[Roger Clark]

In the 1960s, Jack Brabham's name appeared on a number of modified road cars. These were mainly Triumph Heralds and MG Midgets fitted with Coventry-Climax engines. Does anybody know the extent to which Brabham was involved in the engineering of these cars, or did he just lend his name as a marketing aid? How many were made? Does anybody have personal experience of them, and are any known to survive?

[Vitesse2]

Don't remember those Roger, but there was also the Brabham Viva, Vauxhall's short-lived rival for the Lotus Cortina.

Would the ones you are thinking of perhaps have been products of some part of Jack Brabham Ltd, his chain[?] of garages?

[Gary C]

In fact, isn't Jack Brabham Ltd still going (albeit with any involvemnet from The Man)?

[Gary C]

Blimey! They are! Go here : http://www.brabham.co.uk/

[Milan Fistonic]

The November 1960 issue of Sporting Motorist had, what it called, a Drivereport on the Climax-engined Triumph Herald.

"Away from the circuits Jack is a Standard-Triumph dealer at his garage in Hook Road, Chessington, Surrey, and soon after the announcement of the Triumph Herald he hit upon the idea of fitting a 1216cc Climax engine in a Herald coupe for his own use. The results were so successful he has now decided to put his conversion on the market."

The car tested was the basic conversion which included the engine change, special clutch, hard brake linings and oversize 5.60x13 tyres. Also available were disc brakes, special suspension and close ratio gears.

The Climax FWE gave 85 per cent more power than the original engine so the performance was somewhat improved.

0-30 mph 3.4 sec
0-40 mph 5.4 sec
0-50 mph 7.8 sec
0-60 mph 10.8 sec
0-70 mph 15.2 sec
0-80 mph 23.4 sec

Standing start quarter mile 18.2 sec
Maximum speed 101 mph
Fuel consumption 28 mpg

[Barry Lake]

Somewhere deep in my box of Brabham information there are notes of a story Jack told me about a Brabham MG Climax.

I can't remember it at the moment, but it was something to do with his heading north in England (testing or running-in the prototype?) and overtaking a high performance car. When he glanced over at the shocked driver of the overtaken car, it was someone he knew. Sorry, can't remember at the moment who it was.

The point is, the story indicates that Jack was 'hands-on' in the development of these cars. He probably didn't operate the block and tackle lowering in the engine, but I am fairly sure he had the final decision on how it was done. And I think he did the testing and signing off of the prototypes.

Next time I see him I will try to remember to ask the question.

[Roger Clark]

Originally posted by Milan Fistonic

The car tested was the basic conversion which included the engine change, special clutch, hard brake linings and oversize 5.60x13 tyres. Also available were disc brakes, special suspension and close ratio gears.

The Climax FWE gave 85 per cent more power than the original engine so the performance was somewhat improved.

0-30 mph 3.4 sec
0-40 mph 5.4 sec
0-50 mph 7.8 sec
0-60 mph 10.8 sec
0-70 mph 15.2 sec
0-80 mph 23.4 sec

Standing start quarter mile 18.2 sec
Maximum speed 101 mph
Fuel consumption 28 mpg

Those are quite impressive figures for the time. I hope that most people did specify the uprated suspension. THe standard Herald coupe took 21.2secs 0-60.

[Gary Davies]

Originally posted by Roger Clark
Those are quite impressive figures for the time. I hope that most people did specify the uprated suspension. THe standard Herald coupe took 21.2secs 0-60.

Right on, Roger! I had a MkIII Spitfire for a while, with the dreaded swing axle rear suspenders, and by jingo, did it ever try to kill me more than once. And that was with a piddling 75bhp.

Vanwall:|

[Roger Clark]

The Climax engined Midget and Herald had the same engine as the Lotus (14) Elite. THe performance figures quoted by milan were not far behind whaat a standard Elite would do, although the Lotus presumably scored on less weight and better aerodynamics.

After the Climax engined cars, Brabham marketed some modified Rootes Group cars, mainly Sunbeams. THese had modified versions of the standard engines, but like the Climax engined cars were after-market conversions. As Vitesse says these were by Jack Brabham Garages, not by MRD or BRO. The later Brabham Viva was a new car marketed by Vauxhall.

All of this is from memory, so open to correction.

[Megatron]

When I saw the title of the thread, I thought you might be talking about the McLaren F1 and longtime Brabham desginer Gordon Murry. Surely there was some Brabham thinking there as well.

[oldtimer]

Roger, that was a classic piece of English understatement about hoping people specified the uprated suspension!

I had a friend in England who rolled a Herald two or three times without the roof touching the ground. I used to drive a Triumph Vitesse, which was a Herald with a straight 6 1600cc engine shoe-horned into the chassis. Lovely little engine, but you didn't dare think of lifting off in corners, even if you were going a little too fast.

Taught me enough discipline to handle the 356SC Porsche that suceeded it though...

[BRG]

Originally posted by Vitesse2
the Brabham Viva, Vauxhall's short-lived rival for the Lotus Cortina.

Rival to the Lotus Cortina? Hardly, this was just a tarted up version of the Viva Super 90, still with the 1256cc pushrod engine. The "Brabham" bit was a little bit of tape stuck on the bonnet and front wings, a couple of badges and a better steering wheel. I don't recall that there were any power improvements at all. The later Viva GT, a 2000cc OHC twin-Weber equipped beast, was the real Lotus-Cortina (or rather, by that time, Escort Twin Cam) rival. It was a pretty good effort, although it never really caught on mainly because, I believe, Vauxhall and GM's no-competition policy meant it had no racing image. Now if that car had carried the Brabham name, it might have been a different matter...

And yes, Jack Brabham Motors Ltd are still in business (and still have a Vauxhall franchise - I had my little Corsa serviced there last year). They still boast of thier connection to Black Jack in their publicity but I don't think he has any financial stake anymore?

[David McKinney]

At a Silverstone Festival a couple of years ago Sir Jack was attended by a van in Jack Brabham Motors Ltd colours. Doesn't prove he had a stake in the company at the time of course - if he asked you to borrow one of your vans what would you say?

[Roger Clark]

john bolster tested the Herald Climax in September 1960. The suspension was unmodified but he found the chassis well able to cope with the extra power. Indeed the Climax engine was slightly lighteer than the Triumph, which, he said, improved road holding.

The cost of the coversion was £395. At that time the cost of a standard Herald Coupe was £730, making £1125 in total. As a comparison, the Lotus Elite, with the same engine was £1,949.

[Frank de Jong]

Originally posted by BRG
Rival to the Lotus Cortina? Hardly, this was just a tarted up version of the Viva Super 90, still with the 1256cc pushrod engine. The "Brabham" bit was a little bit of tape stuck on the bonnet and front wings, a couple of badges and a better steering wheel. I don't recall that there were any power improvements at all.

A Dutch road test confirms BRG's verdict. Although the Brabham Viva (80 BHP SAE) should have been a little more powerful than a standard SL90, acceleration figures are disappointing (0-100 kph in 17,3 s, compared to a standard Viva 18,0). Top speed was 144 kmh.

The Viva GT with its 106 DIN BHP was in a different league.

The only racing Viva raced in the ETC (as far as I know) was raced by Gerry Marshall at Silverstone 1970. Could have been a great car for its time.
Does anyone have a picture?