2009 Brooke Cosworth Double R Supercharged 400

When it comes to motoring and sports cars in particular, there will always be someone who wants something just that little bit different, a car that puts performance and fun ahead of practicality and day to day transportation. This fact wasn't lost on Colin Chapman when he introduced the Lotus 7 and a number of small builders have carried on the tradition with varying degrees of success. Amongst them are Caterham, Ariel with the Atom, BAC with the Mono, KTM with their X-Bow, a rash of Radicals and the car we have on offer here, the Brooke-Cosworth Double R Supercharged 400.

The Brooke Double R originally started life all the way back in the 1990s when the company was known as Brooke Kensington and the car was the Brooke Kensington ME 190. The company was sold in the early 2000s and its new owners completely re-engineered the car to the point where there were apparently no interchangeable parts, despite the fact that outwardly the cars did still look quite similar. The double R was offered with a variety of power outputs, normally aspirated 200bhp and 260bhp and supercharged versions offering 320bhp and a blistering 400bhp.

This is a Double R 400, not surprisingly powered by a 400bhp supercharged 2.3-litre Cosworth/Duratec inline-four, coupled to a 5-speed manual gearbox. Weighing only 510kg, its reported that the car can hit 60mph from a standstill in less than three seconds and 100mph in a reported 6.5 seconds. It features a tubular spaceframe chassis, with every tube cut on a CNC laser and although the seat is fixed, the CNC-machined pedals are fully adjustable offering a comfortable seating position for drivers up to around 6' 4".

This very special lightweight sportscar is one of only 15 Double Rs produced to date and uniquely is the only one built with custom aluminium bodywork, a £15,000 option as all other cars were fibreglass. The first owner kept the Brooke in a storage bubble from new during his 12 years of tenure and used it very lightly, only covering 1,369 miles over that period.

The second owner, who is well known to us and sold the car through our auction three years ago to the current owner, was also diligent in its care utilising the services of Bell Sport and Classic for maintenance and servicing.

The car's current owner acquired the Double R in early 2022 through our auction and has also cherished it whilst in his Collection. Despite the serious performance on offer, he confirms that the car is very enjoyable to drive with the supercharger offering a smooth and linear power delivery without the exponential arrival of large quantities of turbocharged boost which can easily upset light cars .

The mileage at the time of cataloguing was just 1,795 and there are details of the servicing and maintenance work carried out over the years in the accompanying history file, along with correspondence from the first owner offering an insight into the cars original build.

This is an incredibly special two-seater sportscar offering performance most supercars built today would envy. The fact that this is the only one finished with aluminium bodywork, combined with low ownership and minimal mileage makes this a rare opportunity.

Please note, additional photographs are available upon request with the bodywork off, displaying the attention to detail and thoughtful engineering invested in this remarkable car.