Former F1 driver and Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle has teamed up with his daughter Charlie on an 860hp air-cooled sports car, built by Californian company Gunther Werks - and it's a pretty special machine.
The Brundle Edition Turbo is based on Gunther Werks’ reworked Porsche 911 Turbo, and only five will ever be built.
Charlie Brundle, a car designer whose CV includes stints at manufacturers such as McLaren, Aston Martin and Jaguar Land Rover, led the design aspect of the project. Martin, using his almost infinite experience behind the wheel of all sorts of motor vehicles, helped develop how it drives, including its Sport and Track settings.
“To collaborate with Gunther Werks and to have my daughter lead the design means this project is deeply personal,” Brundle said in the announcement. “We’ve poured our collective experience from the driver’s seat, the paddock and the design studios into this car.”
A rear-mounted 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged flat-six produces an astonishing 860hp and 610lb-ft of torque. And with automotive purists in mind, it only comes with a six-speed manual gearbox that sends power to the rear wheels.
Despite those figures, Brundle insists it's still a car you can enjoy on the public road.
“For me, one of the most unique aspects of a Gunther Werks vehicle is that, despite having extreme race car performance, it is remarkably civilised and usable too,” he said.
On top of its blistering performance, it also gets an adjustable rear wing, front canards, carbon ceramic Brembo brakes and forged magnesium wheels with the Brundle branding. It also gets two-tone pearl paint inspired by the racing driver's helmet, with "Brundle" badging on the engine cover.
Inside, the headrests carry an "MB" monogram designed by Charlie herself, and the endplates of the dash are signed by the man himself. The dashboard also carries a line that fans of the Briton will recognise: “The most important bit of the car is the nut holding the steering wheel.”
Buyers will also receive a Bell HP77 helmet painted in the same colour scheme, signed by Brundle and certified for race use.
The car will be shown to the public at the Concours at Wynn Las Vegas. Hopefully we find out the price and other performance specifics closer to the time.