The Aston Martin DB5 is one of the world’s most iconic cars, and not just because James Bond drove one. It also has a timeless look that upstart firm David Brown Automotive sought to recreate with its Speedback GT.
When it first announced the car back in February, David Brown said that the Speedback GT, which at that time was known as Project Judi, would combine modern innards with retro styling.
The Speedback GT looks like a carbon copy of a DB5. It’s got the same oval grille, spear-shaped front fenders, and stacked tail-lights that look like rocket exhausts. It’s all rendered in lightweight aluminum as well.
The proportions are a little different though, because David Brown stretched the DB5’s styling over the modern chassis of a Jaguar XK. It features the 5.0-liter supercharged V8 from the XKR, which produces the same 510 horsepower as it does in the Jag.
Performance is also similar to the XKR. David Brown says its auto will do 0 to 60 mph in 4.6 seconds, and reach a top speed of 155 mph.
The XK base should also make it easy to find parts when something breaks. Fixing perpetually broken components is an integral part of the classic British sports car experience, but we can only hope that David Brown didn’t carry that trait over to the the Speedback GT.
Keen Aston Martin fans may note one more similarity between the Speedback GT and the DB5: the name David Brown itself.
David Brown was a British industrialist who revitalized Aston after World War II, and is the “DB” in DB. However, there is no relation to David Brown of David Brown Automotive.
The Speedback GT will make its public debut at the Top Marques show in Monaco, which begins April 20. Pricing will be announced at a later date, and the company only plans to build 50 of these cars per year.
