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| A very early example of the DRB Sabre owned by Raymond Tadd. |
The Sabre was the brainchild of Dennis R. Bedford, a noted builder of boats and specials in Queensland, Australia. Mounted on the floor-pan of a Volkswagen Type-3, with an "add-on chassis" incorporating box section steel tubing and integral bumper bars within the body, it also retained the air-cooled VW 1600 motor and adjustable front suspension with disc brakes.
The Sabre was ultimately sold in two versions, with the initial MK1 variant being introduced in 1980.
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| The DRB Sabre MK1 "roadster". |
The MK1 featured a rakish silhouette, with crisp fender lines running the length of the body, and a "flying buttress" treatment at the rear. It exhibited hints of 70's and 80's Italian and European influences in its styling. Bits of the Ferrari 512BB and Maserati Bora can be seen.
The MK2 was described by Bedford himself as "...a cross between a Ford GT40 and Ferrari 250LM" and found its references in the styling of 60's Le Mans racers. He also developed a similar car called the "Taipan", while the MK2 was in its development phase. Both were introduced in 1987 and, as it turned out, the MK2 would be produced in greater numbers than the original car. This was likely owing to its "retro" style that was becoming increasingly fashionable at the time.
There was also a roadster version of the car called the Magnum, which shared the styling of the MK1, sans roof. That project was sold to a fellow named Kevin Whittaker and may be the subject of a future post as more information comes to light.
Bedford claimed there was at least 50 MK1's and Magnums produced. At least another 50 or 60 MK2's appear to have been produced. DRB went on to produce a number of cars of his own design and some notable replicas of the Zender Vision, Shelby 427 Cobra, Ford GT 40, Jaguar XJ220 and the ill-fated XJ13 Le Mans racer, as well as the 2004 Ford/Shelby Cobra concept car that is still produced today.
Photo Credits:
The blue Sabre MK1 pictured is owned by Raymond Tadd. Pictures were also contributed by Australian car collector, Stacey Nico.
Other sources include eBay and Shannon's Club Auctions.
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| The prototype DRB Sabre. |
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| Mr. Bedford's DRB Sabre MK1 demonstrator. |
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| Derived from the Sabre MK1, this car was called the "Magnum". |
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The DRB Sabre MK2 interior.
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| The DRB Sabre MK2 |
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The DRB Sabre MK2 mixed styling cues of the
Ferrari 250LM and Ford GT40 rather well.
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| The DRB Sabre MK2 |
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| The DRB Sabre MK2 |
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| The DRB Sabre MK2 |
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| The DRB Sabre MK1 |
The car in the photo captioned 'Derived from the Sabre MK1, this car was called the "Magnum" ' - is not actually a Magnum.
ReplyDeleteThe Magnum is the same as the car you have shown as a Sabre Mk I 'Roadster', but with NO DOORS, which could be climbed into via a foot hold in each side (like pilots climbing into Spitfire cockpits). These Sabres had a removable roof section, and I believe were quite popular on the Gold Coast in Queensland, due to the sunny climate there.
We even had one or two appear up here on the central Queensland coast.
At some point Dennis built some MK I Sabres as proper convertibles, two of which (according to Dennis) were silver. I owned one of these two silver convertibles (factory production number 016) from 1991 until about 2004. If my memory serves correctly, Dennis told me the other was destroyed in a crash somewhere on the Gold Coast some time before I got mine, and that mine was the only one still in existence.
I don't know whether he was referring to mine being the last of the convertibles, or the last of the silver convertibles, however I have not seen any other MK I convertibles or photos of them, in any other colour.
I still have photographs of my Sabre, which was used (unofficially) for State Emergency Service and Police support work during local emergencies such as floods and rescues. Mine was running a 'performance' engine that allowed it to fairly comfortably keep up with a Mazda RX-7. Actually, the RX-7 could, with difficulty, sometimes keep up with the Sabre on regular outback runs. However that was probably due to driver error and good luck.