David Brown Automotive Speedback Silverstone cuts a dash in Geneva
Looking like it came right out of James Bond's garage, this hand-built Geneva Motor Show star is high on style, and price.
David Brown Automotive, best known for producing hand-built, small-volume cars in Britain, has just revealed its latest at the Geneva Motor Show: the Speedback Silverstone Edition. It's an aeronautical-inspired Grand Tourer coupe with just enough retro DNA to make it mid-century cool.
Oh my, does that look delicious.
A streamlined aluminum body is finished with chrome trim and a metallic paint job. LED headlights illuminate the way while a front spoiler and rear diffuser point to the beast beneath the hood. The interior is right out of a James Bond film, "Goldfinger," circa 1964 with metal inlays on the dashboard, jet-inspired air vents and gauge cluster and contrasting stitching on the leather seats. In fact, the whole car is reminiscent of the Aston Martin DB5, arguably one of the most recognizable Bond cars.
With room for two, the Speedback Silverstone Edition features a folding "event seat" behind the driver and passenger that functions as storage. It's not really a seat, but rather an interesting design feature that carries over from the company's Speedback GT model.
Powering this shiny rocket of nostalgic delight is a 5.0-liter twin-scroll supercharged V8 engine, putting out 601 horsepower and 565 pound-feet of torque. Power goes to the rear wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission, so it ain't all from the 1960s. A nice little manual would have fit the Speedback beautifully. Regardless, the company claims a 0-60 mph time of 4.2 seconds and a top speed of 155 mph.
If you're down to buy one, well, start saving your British pence now. Only 10 will be made, in either right- or left-hand drive, as you choose. The cost is £620,000 -- at today's exchange rate that works out to a chilly $861,000. Yipes.