David brown Speedback GT Mercedes-Benz
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Beneath the veneer of vintage is a more
contemporary tale though. One of the reasons it is so fast to market is because
underpinning the hand-built body is a Jaguar XKR Convertible. It seems
profligate to take an angle grinder to a new car, but Brown says this was the
best way to produce a car with the inherent quality needed.
One
of the reasons it is so fast to market is because underpinning the hand-built
body is a Jaguar XKR Convertible
The cabin isn’t finished, but it’s not
without promise. Fields of leather have been stitched by the craftsmen and
women who do JLR’s bespoke stuff and it is perfect, lavishly laid across almost
everything. Again, this is the result of old-school know-how and modern
techniques. The reason the finish is so good is that the plastic substrates are
3D printed from a digital template, which means that the fit onto the
underlying architecture is millimetre-perfect and allowing the thick covering
to drape perfectly over.
Brown explains why this has been so
important: “Before the advent of this technology, it would have been completely
impossible, or at least inordinately costly, to produce these small numbers to
a mass-production, zero-tolerance standard.”
And while a door substrate might seem a
fairly proletarian problem in a car of this cost, it’s exactly the sort of
thing that is manufactured poorly and installed wonkily in low-run cars that
buyers instinctively feel when they are in the cabin.
And
while a door substrate might seem a fairly proletarian problem in a car of this
cost, it’s exactly the sort of thing that is manufactured poorly and installed
wonkily in low-run cars that buyers instinctively feel when they are in the
cabin.
The cabin groans, literally and
metaphorically, with millionaire cowhide but there are other areas that can
politely be called a work in progress. The basic electronic architecture is
taken from the XKR but with individually made new metal switchgear, and that’s
less successful. The seat controls and door pulls have a habit of sticking and
there’s a recalcitrance to the buttons for other functions such as driving
modes and access to the infotainment.
But this is what a pre-production car is
all about, finding what works and doesn’t, and usually these kinds of problems
(and the one where the art deco speedo needle is properly retro because it lags
the Jaguar digital one by about 5mph) are encountered on test tracks and
factories, far from prying eyes, and surrounded by numerous engineers. Not in a
one-off deal like this though. Every mile is a test mile.
You could criticise the Speedback’s looks
for being a pastiche of things long since gone, a mock-Tudor doing it a
disservice because many of the engineering skills, mainly in the Midlands, that
have been brought to bear on this car are craftsmanship of the very highest
quality, and you should never denigrate the use of those. Brown’s skill has
been weaving the various firms, craftsmen and women into the project.
Brown’s
skill has been weaving the various firms, craftsmen and women into the project.
