1994 Brooke 190ME #001

For sale by auction on Saturday 12 March 2016 with Historics at Brooklands. Brooklands Motor Racing Circuit. Weybridge. Surrey. Call 01753 639170
The Brooke 190ME was designed by successful furniture
manufacturer Toby Sutton who founded Brooke Cars in the early 90's.
The company was named after his home village in Norfolk. with the
ME standing for mid-engine and 190. the brake horsepower. Despite
the early rave reviews. the company folded after around eight cars
were produced due to financing issues and most cars went to Europe
and Japan. Early reviews suggested that the Brooke had copied the
'racing car for the road' concept coined by Gordon Murray's
'Rocket' of the same period; however. Toby Sutton's design drawings
- copy of which can be found in the history file - show this car
pre-dated Murray's 'Rocket'. Furthermore. the Brooke 245 (the car
prior to the 190ME) had the 'Rocket' tandem sitting position. so
that idea was also said to be originally conceived by Brooke Cars.
Designed to be a modern version of the 1950/60's single seater
racers such as the Maserati 250F but with the added advantage of
two seats. critical to the look are the concealed headlights and
oval front radiator intake. Years later another company purchased
the rights to the Brooke 190ME and re-launched a Mk. II version
known as the 'Double R'. Unfortunately the Mk. II also went out of
production after only a slightly longer production run.

Not only is this example Toby Sutton's own original car. it is
the first Brooke 190ME produced in 1994. chassis number 001. hence
the nose number. It was the subject of all the early press
releases. magazine articles and sales literature in its original
colour Silver. One can only imagine the time. hopes and dreams that
went into this particular chassis number and it undoubtedly plays a
very small but unique piece of motoring history. Early on. #001 was
predominantly used in the hands of motoring journalists; later
various track days and hill climbs; thereafter it sat unused for
over a decade before Mr Sutton. now in his 80's. was persuaded to
part with it. It has recently been the subject of a major
restoration by its current owner. completed only 100 miles since
and is supplied with a disc full of the re-build photographs and
everything the current owner has been able to collect on Brookes in
general.

The car runs a Cosworth developed Vauxhall 'Red-Top' 2. 0L engine
built by Scholar Engines. dyno tested at 230bhp and approaching
500bhp per tonne. Construction is based round a space frame chassis
with adjustable suspension. mid-mounted engine attached to a
five-speed box and rear trans-axial which made for a fantastic car
on road or track.

Offered with UK log book. current MoT test certificate and a
fitted tonneau. this is a unique opportunity to own a piece of
British motoring history; after all who didn't as a child dream of
building their own sports car!

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