Donington launch Jack Brabham celebration auction
With 2026 marking the centenary of Jack Brabham’s birth, tributes are being held around the world for the driver and engineer who became the first Australian to win Formula 1’s ultimate prize, then made history by being the first (and so far only) driver to win the world championship in a car of his own construction.
This month, Donington Auctions are honouring Brabham with a special, 200+ lot online auction that marks not only the centenary of the champion’s birth, but also 60 years since his historic 1966 title.
The auction, titled ‘A Tribute to Brabham - The Anniversary Auction Commemorating the Man, the Marque and his Machines,’ brings together an array of cars, rare parts and related memorabilia.
The headline lot is a unique BT23E single-seater. While not driven in F1 competition, this car was raced by Brabham at Warwick Farm and Sandown in period. Closely related to the Repco-Brabham machines that Brabham and teammate Denny Hulme used to win the Constructor’s Championships in 1966 and 1967, this BT23E was built specifically for the 1968 Tasman Series and is powered by a Repco 830 V8.
Subsequently sold to Bob Jane and campaigned by the likes of John Harvey and Allan Moffat, the BT23E has been in the vendor’s collection for almost a decade and maintained in race-ready condition.
NOTE: This car will be offered by way of Sealed Bid with an Estimate on Request.
Many lots in the Tribute to Brabham auction come from the extraordinary collection of Denis Lupton, arguably Australia’s leading Brabham authority. The man responsible for restoring numerous Brabham open wheelers over the years, Lupton also maintained a detailed registry of these cars.
Available lots include a 1965 Brabham BT15 (est. $26,000-32,000) from the Denis Lupton Collection, a Lynx 1500cc Formula Junior (est. $15,000-19,000) designed by Ron Tauranac, and an Australian special, known as the “Birchwood-Cooper” (est. $12,000-18,000), which is being offered in project form. There’s also a 1971 Elfin MR5 built by Garrie Cooper’s Elfin Sports Cars (estimate $TBC); one of four campaigned in local Formula 5000 competition in the early ’70s by owner/driver Max Stewart.
A large cache of rare parts will also be offered, headlined by an unused Coventry Climax FPF 2.5-litre engine built by UK specialists Crosthwaite & Gardiner (estimate $70,000-80,000), and a Hewland FT200 gearbox (estimate $19,000-21,000).
Additionally, there will be over 200 individual lots of motorsport memorabilia relating to Sir Jack Brabham, Ron Tauranac and John Cooper; the majority offered without reserve. Ranging from books, posters and prints to scale models, there’s plenty to entice Australian motor racing enthusiasts across a wide range of budgets.
Bidding for ‘A Tribute to Brabham - The Anniversary Auction Commemorating the Man, the Marque and his Machines’ opened on April 13 and closes on April 26, 2026. For a full listing, go to the online catalogue HERE.
